NEW YORK — The Republican candidate for governor of New York lashed early Monday at reports that he had said “there is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual.”
Carl Paladino’s campaign said several media outlets initially reported that the gubernatorial hopeful had made the remarks to Orthodox Jewish leaders in Brooklyn on Sunday.
He was said to have added, “That is not how God created us.” However Paladino said in a statement obtained by NBC News that the comment was “not the actual statement I made.”
“I do not agree with this passage, nor did I say it,” he said, saying his hosts at a synagogue in theWilliamsburg neighborhood had handed out what he described as “suggested remarks” after he left.
It was unclear from his statement who had written the “suggested remarks.” A message was left at the synagogue early Monday.
This and other undisputed statements that Paladino made— including one about gay people being “brainwashed” — during the brief speech have sparked outrage from critics.
“That’s not how God created us,” Paladino said of being gay, “and that’s not the example that we should be showing our children.”
He added that children who later in life choose to marry people of the opposite sex and raise families would be “much better off and much more successful.”
“I don’t want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option,” he said.
In the statement, issued after midnight Monday, Paladino said of the speech: “I noted my opposition to gay marriage, inspired by my Catholic beliefs. I also oppose discrimination of any form.”
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Church teaching holds that followers should refrain from discriminating against gays but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
After clarifying what he didn’t say to the Jewish leaders, Paladino’s statement said, “I unequivocally have no other reservations about homosexuality. I enjoy a close relationship with my nephew who is gay and I certainly consider him to be a functional child of God.”
Paladino, who has received tea party support, made the comments at a synagogue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section while trying to strike a contrast between himself and his Democratic rival, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Paladino said he chose not to march in this summer’s gay pride parade but his opponent did.
A Cuomo campaign spokesman, Josh Vlasto, said Paladino’s comments demonstrate “a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality.”
“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,” Vlasto said.
Paladino’s comments were striking because they came hours after eight people were arraigned in an attack on a gay man and two gay teens in the Bronx on Oct. 3.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Cuomo supporter who is the city’s highest-ranking openly gay official, said Paladino’s statements “are not only deeply offensive, but they are dangerous” given the Bronx incidents and the suicides of gay Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi and several others, Politico reported.
Asked whether his comments were appropriate given the attack, Paladino said he does not support violence against gays.
“Don’t misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie,” he said. “My approach is live and let live.”
But Quinn indicated a belief that Paladino’s statements represent a larger problem.
“We need our elected officials to be leaders on diversity, not urging second-class citizenship for some groups of people,” her statement added, according to Politico.
Paladino, a multimillionaire developer from Buffalo, has previously stated that he is opposed to gay marriage.
New York lawmakers defeated a same-sex marriage bill last year, and Paladino has said that he’d veto similar bills if he took office, The New York Times reported.
Paladino, who apologized for forwarding racist and sexist e-mails early on in his campaign to replace Democratic Gov. David Paterson, was campaigning on Sunday through traditionally Jewish conservative neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
He stopped at a rabbinical college in Borough Park, before eating lunch at Gottlieb’s deli in Williamsburg and then ending his tour at the synagogue.
Recent polls have showed Cuomo with a big lead over Paladino in the governor’s race. Several minor-party candidates also are seeking to replace Paterson, who took office after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer stepped down in a prostitution scandal but isn’t seeking election to a full term.