Carl Paladino Adds to Fire With Anti-Gay Comments

Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama, Race and Civil Rights

These have been tough times for gays in the New York City area, and the Republican running for governor of New York has just made things worse.

In the past three weeks, gang members in the Bronx allegedly sodomized and beat a gay man in an organized attack; a Rutgers University student jumped of the George Washington Bridge, after two classmates secretly posted an online video of him in a private moment with a man; and two Staten Island men beat down a man in the bathroom of the Stonewall Inn, a New York City bar known as the birthplace of the gay rights movement.

So in this anti-gay climate, what does kooky New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino do?

He tells an audience of orthodox Jewish leaders that children should not be "brainwashed" into believing homosexuality is an acceptable way to live:

"There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual," Paladino wrote in a prepared speech, which also criticized his Democratic opponent, Andrew Cuomo, for marching in the city's gay pride parade.

Paladino has shown that he isn't ready for elected office, especially considering some of his earlier exploits. He got caught sending out racist e-mails to friends and campaign contributors. He then suggested that welfare recipients in the city live in vacant prison space while getting lessons on personal hygiene.

The sad part is that Paladino actually won his party's nomination after those disclosures.

Polls show Cuomo with a commanding lead over Paladino, the Tea Party candidate, in the governor's race.

That's a good thing.

For a while, Paladino filled the role of plucky upstart rallying against the political establishment.

But with his latest comments, he has shown himself to be a very dangerous man, the kind of man who contributes to a climate that encourages violence against consenting adults who choose a gay lifestyle.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments