Florida state Republican Senator Ileana Garcia offered something of an apology on Thursday after she said earlier this month that being LGBT “is not a permanent thing.” Her crude comment came as she was arguing in favor of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, specifically the ban on teaching K-3 kids about sexual orientation. While she admitted her comment was a poorly articulated attempt “to explain my very personal life experiences,” Garcia painted herself as the victim, complaining about people making “offensive comments” to her in the aftermath. “I would hope we can elevate our public debate to a level that allows us to have a productive exchange of ideas and views without making assumptions, characterizations or waiting for an anticipated gotcha moment,” she said in a statement posted to Twitter. Garcia switched off comments on her post, and has previously shut her Twitter down entirely, preventing any kind of “productive” debate.