Carl Paladino, the Republican N.Y. gubernatorial candidate, said during a speech at a Jewish synagogue on Sunday that he doesn’t want children “brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option.”
Paladino appended, “That’s not how God created us and that’s not the example that we should be showing our children.”
During the same speech at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, congregation, Paladino also bragged that he did not attend NYC’s gay pride parade in June and pointed out that his Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, Andrew Cuomo, did.
Paladino’s anti-gay comments—particularly repugnant in their delivery on the heels of a rash of suicides by LGBT youth and a brutal anti-gay attack in the Bronx— immediately drew national media attention and sparked outrage among LGBT equality supporters.
“Mr. Paladino’s statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality,” said Cuomo’s campaign in a statement released after news of Paladino’s remarks dispersed. “These comments along with other views he has espoused make it clear that he is way out of the mainstream and is unfit to represent New York.”
Rather than distance himself from the brashly anti-gay vitriol, Paladino suggested that it was he—not the LGBT community—who deserved an apology because he apparently skipped a line in his prepared speech that read, “There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual.”
“In my speech today to Orthodox Jewish leaders in New York City, I noted my opposition to gay marriage, inspired by my Catholic beliefs,” Paladino said in a statement. No stranger to, and clearly dismissive of, hypocrisy and political paradox, he continued, “I also oppose discrimination of any form.”
Paladino appeared on the NBC’s Today show Monday morning in an apparent attempt to clarity his remarks. He went on to ramble to host Matt Lauer that he thought children should not be permitted at gay pride parades because of men wearing “Speedos and grinding against each other,” which he called, “disgusting” and “a terrible thing.”
Paladino then proved what a sport he is by noting that he would hire gay people to work in his administration and that his nephew is openly gay. Thanks, Carl!
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