NY Times Article: American Politician Complains About Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade.

Paladino Strongly Defends Remarks on Homosexuality

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Today Show A screen shot from Carl P. Paladino’s appearance on the “Today” show. Click to view video.

The day after making remarks denouncing homosexuality, Carl P. Paladino defended his opinion during television interviews on Monday and said that children should not attend gay pride parades because they featured skimpily dressed men “grinding at each other and doing these gyrations.”

“It’s disgusting,” Mr. Paladino, the Republican candidate for governor, said on the “Today” show.

Mr. Paladino, who also appeared on “Good Morning America,” sought to defend controversial remarks about gays he made on Sunday to Jewish leaders in Brooklyn, including arguing that children should not be “brainwashed” into accepting homosexuality as acceptable.

Mr. Paladino said he did not regret those remarks and did not believe they made him a bigot. He also said that discrimination against gays was “horrible” and should not be tolerated.

“My feelings on homosexuality are unequivocal,” said Mr. Paladino said on the “Today” show. “I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. My only reservation is marriage.”

He added, “I have a lot of homosexuals working in my organization,” referring to his real estate business.

But Mr. Paladino reiterated that he thought it was wrong for Andrew M. Cuomo, his Democratic opponent, to have taken his daughters to a gay pride parade, saying that such events were inappropriate for children.

“Young children should not be exposed to that at a young age. They don’t understand, it’s a very difficult thing,” said Mr. Paladino. “And exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a gay pride parade — and I don’t know if you have ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other and it’s just a terrible thing.”

Mr. Paladino elaborated on those remarks during his interview on “Good Morning America,” saying that he and his wife had “stumbled on” a gay pride parade once during a trip to Toronto.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Mr. Paladino said. “It was a bunch of very extreme-type people in bikini-type outfits grinding at each other and doing these gyrations, and I certainly wouldn’t let my young children see that.”

Supporters of gay rights lashed out at Mr. Paladino’s comments saying they make him unsuitable to be New York’s governor.

“Out of touch, out of his mind, should be out of the race,” said Brian Ellner, a senior strategist for the Human Rights Campaign for New York Marriage.