NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Republican leaders said a legislator probably should not have used the word “queer” to describe people who are gay, but stopped short of asking him to apologize for his comments.

“I just think that it’s unfortunate that we’re discussing this instead of what the issue is, which is that marriage should be between a man and a woman,” said House Minority Leader Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville.

At a recent rally to support a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, said “It’ll be a sad day when queers and lesbians are allowed to get married.” Watson later refused to back off the comment, saying queer is a “name they claim.”

Republican legislators have been trying to drum up support for the proposed constitutional amendment that could appear on the November ballot. Dunn said he hasn’t spoken with Watson about his choice of words, but felt if the word queer turned attention away from the marriage amendment, it shouldn’t have been used.

State lawmakers have approved the measure defining marriage as between one man and one woman. However, a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union claiming lawmakers didn’t advertise the proposal for the required six-month period may keep the amendment off the Nov. 7 statewide ballot.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments on the matter on June 7 but has not ruled.

Former Sen. David Fowler, who sponsored the marriage amendment, said Watson’s statements took the focus off the intent of the rally.

“It did distract from the newsworthy item that 76 percent of Tennessee voters want to decide the issue instead of letting the courts decide,” he said.

Lance Frizzell, a spokesperson for likely Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Bryson, said the Franklin senator would never use the word queer in describing gay people. However, he said he didn’t think it would affect voters’ approval of the amendment, which Bryson strongly supported as a state senator.

“I think it won’t have an effect,” Frizzell said. “The only effect will be how Rep. Watson will deal with it in his district.”

Watson’s refusal to apologize for his statements is energizing voters who want to defeat the amendment, according to Chris Sanders, president-elect of the Tennessee Equality Project.

The Tennessee Equality Project is organizing “Vote No on 1,” a campaign against passage of the proposed amendment. The group is trying to show that banning same-sex marriage hurts real Tennessee families, Sanders said.

“It is helping energize people who were moderate or undecided,” he said. “It’s helping them see the sort of ignorance of the leadership who is trying to pass this amendment.”

Tennessee Republican Party Executive Director Chris Devaney said the comments were a “distraction for proponents of the marriage amendment,” but said it would be up to voters in Watson’s district to decide whether they were inappropriate.