STEPHEN Dunne, 31, the Irish law student who last June sued the Massachusetts State Bar Association for $9.75 million for including a gay marriage question on the would-be lawyer's exam, has had a dramatic change of heart. Last year Dunne, originally from Dublin, refused to answer a question on same sex marriage and flunked his bar exam, but then he sued for religious discrimination. Dunne later withdrew his case and disappeared from the headlines until last month, when he wrote a letter with the subject heading "Apology to Gay Community" to Bay Windows, a well-known Boston based gay and lesbian newspaper, explaining that his lawsuit was "misguided" and he was simply "lashing out."If the editorial board at Bay Widows were surprised to receive the apology they were not alone. "My dream is to become a lawyer," Dunne originally wrote in June 2007, "but I cannot defile my Christian faith simply to pass an examination." In the beginning Dunne's hardline stance attracted national attention and conservative backing, but some observers suggest the case may have eventually run aground when he realized he did not have the money to fund a federal fight.Speaking to the Irish Voice, Dunne said, "I've changed my mind on this issue and I've moved forward so much since last June. At the time I felt like the question was an imposition on the freedom of religion. But I've changed my mind and my heart since then - it's a 180 degree turnaround for me."Asked how he got from describing same sex marriage as "morally repugnant and patently offensive" to writing a long letter of apology to a gay newspaper, Dunne replied, "I educated myself on the issue of equality. I started seeing the parallels with regard to the discrimination that Irish people experienced when they first came to America and the discrimination that gay people face now. "Denied employment, denied rights, Irish need not apply, that kind of discrimination. Eventually the Irish got ahead and were assimilated but that has yet to happen for gay people here."Since he launched his million dollar lawsuit last summer Dunne has had many discussions with gay people who have outlined their point of view. It was through this interaction that the would-be lawyer began to amend his own stance. Dunne admitted that until he filed his lawsuit he had never given the issue of anti-gay discrimination any thought. He was surprised, he says, to learn that there are many evangelical churches that argue that gay people should not even be allowed to participate in services - and it was this level of hostility that made him reconsider his own stance.Says Dunne, "I wrote to Bay Windows to undo some of the damage I've done with that lawsuit. I feel like I was misguided. Gay people in the United States are demonized by many conservatives." In response to Dunne's comments Sean Cahill, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) managing director of public policy, Irish language activist and Massachusetts native, told the Irish Voice, "We welcome his change of heart. People make mistakes and it seems like he's grown and opened his mind. He doesn't hold the narrow views he once had and I welcome that. I'm encouraged by it, it's something we should welcome."Responding to claims by some commentators that his apology was simply an insincere ploy to pass the character and fitness element of the bar exam, Dunne expressed his frustration."My letter has nothing to do with the bar exam. It doesn't benefit or hurt me in any way. I spent a lot of time writing that letter of apology. I don't know why people are so cynical to think that I'd somehow benefit from it. I want to be a symbol for change. "You can change your mind and your heart, you can progress. If you're from an immigrant background you can see that discrimination needs to be stopped in its tracks wherever it's found."