Toned-down Paladino rips Cuomo over gay pride parade

Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino Monday toned down his rhetoric about homosexuality but still took aim at his opponent, questioning rival Andrew Cuomo's decision to take his teenage daughters to a gay pride parade.

In TV interviews and impromptu news conferences at the Columbus Day Parade in Manhattan, Paladino was dogged by questions about his remarks to ultra-Orthodox rabbis Sunday that children should not be "brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option. It isn't."

The Buffalo multimillionaire said Monday his main focus was on gay marriage and highlighting his opposition to it and Democrat Cuomo's support of it.

"I am not homophobic," Paladino said. "I believe in all gay rights unequivocally, with one reservation: same-sex marriage. I am a Catholic and I believe in the Catholic position."

But Paladino went further, saying Cuomo was wrong to march with two of his daughters in the New York City Gay Pride parade in July.

"They wear these little Speedos and they grind on each other, and I don't think little children should be exposed to it," he said, adding Cuomo "displayed his lack of interest maybe in being a good father" and "is more interested in politics."

"I think it's disgusting," Paladino said.

Cuomo, the state attorney general, said he would not accept parenting advice from Paladino and called his remarks on gays "reckless."

"We celebrate diversity in this state," Cuomo told reporters during the parade up Fifth Avenue. "Today we celebrate Columbus Day and the Italians; we celebrate the gay pride parade, we celebrate the Israel Day parade. We don't run from our differences and we won't let anyone divide us. Not straight from gay, not upstate from downstate."

Asked at the parade's end if his record on gay rights is better than Paladino's, Cuomo laughed, and said, "Yeah, I think so."

The back and forth came before Paladino's campaign announced his first statewide advertising. Commercials dubbed "I've got a plan" are set to begin airing Tuesday.

Tension over Paladino's remarks was heightened by their timing: just days after two gay teenagers and a gay man were assaulted in attacks that authorities say were motivated by anti-gay hatred. Paladino denounced the attacks as "despicable."

Along the 27-block parade, though, there were few signs of that tension. Carrying an Italian flag, Paladino was mostly greeted with cheers as he handed lollipops to children. There were a few boos and one sign calling him "ignorant."

Outside St. Patrick's Cathedral, Archbishop Timothy Dolan greeted Paladino with a hug and a blessing. Later, Dolan wouldn't say whether he agreed with Paladino's comments. "Any type of violence, disrespect, degradation has no place at all in Catholic teaching," Dolan said.