Carl Paladino Says He's Just Being Catholic When He Says Gays Are Disgusting

What a weekend for Carl Paladino, the Republican nominee for New York's Governor's race. What began with a purported "gays are dysfunctional" comment before a group of New York rabbis ended with a "gays are disgusting" comment on the Today Show. Way to show off one's vocabulary of pejorative words that start with the letter "D."

Lots has been said about Paladino's comments. The Human Rights Campaign called them symbolic of the type of homophobia that tells LGBT youth they are worthless.

"By his own words, Carl Paladino has made himself the poster boy for the kind of divisive leadership that makes young LGBT people question their self-worth and gives license to those who use violence to advance their hate,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

Andrew Cuomo, Paladino's Democratic opponent in the upcoming election, also pounced on the comments. "Mr. Paladino's statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality," said the Cuomo campaign.

Paladino tried justifying the comments over the weekend, by saying that he wasn't being homophobic, he was just being Catholic. That sentiment, in addition to Paladino's comments themselves, also needs to be condemned.

"Carl Paladino is simply expressing the views that he holds in his heart as a Catholic," Paladino's campaign manager, Michael Caputo, said. "Carl Paladino is not homophobic, and neither is the Catholic Church.”

Yes, because funneling resources away from fighting poverty to stop gays from marrying, denying money to homeless shelters because they may be too LGBT-friendly, and calling LGBT people a threat to the fabric of humanity is not homophobic. And I have a bridge to sell you...

Call this the Paladino meme if you want, but it can't be allowed to stand unchallenged. Paladino's comments about gays being dysfunctional and disgusting are not Catholic, though they may in fact be similar in tone to what the institutional Church says about gay people. But the vast majority of Catholics are no doubt repulsed by what Paladino had to say, given that the vast majority of Catholics in states like Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York favor equal rights for LGBT people.

Catholicism shouldn't be cover for the type of comments that Paladino made, which were not only sophomoric, but hurtful. Calling a certain percentage of constituents disgusting, dysfunctional, and saying that children shouldn't be allowed near gay events? So much for that whole "love thy neighbor" sentiment.

But make no mistake: Paladino may be one of the first politicians to use the line, "I'm not homophobic; I'm Catholic." But he won't be the last, not in a political space where the Catholic bishops actually have a closer relationship with the National Organization for Marriage than they do the people worshiping in their pews.

Update: Paladino stressed again in his interviews today that the line about gays being "dysfunctional" was not in his speech before several Orthodox rabbis on Friday. It was suggested by his hosts, but Paladino chose not to say it. Still, the text of his comments did include a dig at Andrew Cuomo for marching in a gay pride event: "That’s not how God created us and that’s not the example that we should be showing our children. I don’t want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option. Whether the word dysfunctional was said or not, the comments still have many gay rights activists upset.”

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