Actor Mario Lopez has issued a formal apology after calling parents who support their transgender kids' gender identities "dangerous."

Speaking to People magazine, the Saved by the Bell alum said his commentary about trans children in a previous interview with conservative talking head Candace Owens was "ignorant and insensitive."

In a guest appearance on Owens' PragerU web show filmed in June, Lopez noted that he was "kind of blown away" by fellow actors like Charlize Theron, who openly supports and validates her 7-year-old transgender daughter:

Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids, obviously, and I always say if you’re coming from a place of love you really can’t go wrong. But at the same time, my God, if you’re 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way, you think you’re a boy or a girl, whatever the case may be, I just think it’s dangerous as a parent to make that determination that, "Okay, well then you’re gonna be a boy, or a girl," whatever the case may be, it’s sort of alarming. I just think of the repercussions later on.

"You don’t know anything about sexuality yet," he told Owens, totally conflating sexual orientation and gender identity. "You're just a kid."

LGBTQ advocacy groups like GLAAD, HRC, and the Transgender Law Center, as well as a handful of out celebrities, were quick to criticize Lopez for his remarks.

"Mario Lopez’s comments are dangerous to the safety and well-being of LGBTQ youth," HRC tweeted, "especially trans children who deserve to be loved and accepted for who they are."

Now, Lopez (pictured above, alongside two of his kids) claims he has "a deeper understanding" of how harmful his words were.

"I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself," he added. "Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful."

Lopez, 45, has three young children with his wife Courtney Laine Mazza.