New York's Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino, on Monday attempted to clarify remarks he'd made the previous day about homosexuality, telling Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" show that discrimination against gays "is horrible. It's terrible."Paladino, a Tea Party favorite, on Sunday had sharply attacked homosexuality in a speech to Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn even as the tragedy of gay bullying has riveted the nation and a day after three gay men were tortured in the Bronx because of their sexual orientation.Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at Congregation Shaarei Chaim in the trendy and traditional Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, where hipsters live cheek by jowl with Hasidic Jews, Paladino was talking about the importance of not "pandering to the pornographers and perverts" when he continued on to the issue of gay rights, which he opposes."I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don't want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option -- it isn't," said Paladino, who has a reputation for being frank to the point of volatility.Paladino also had controversial remarks that he did not deliver, writing at one point in his prepared speech: "There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual" and being homosexual "is not how God created us."In the "Today" show interview, Paladino said he is not anti-gay and that he would "absolutely" recruit gays to work in his administration. "You name it. Wherever their expertise may be, we'll put them in our government."Asked about the "brainwashed" remark, he said that comment had "to do with schooling children. My feelings on homosexuality are unequivocal. I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. My only reservation is marriage."He said that "children should not be exposed to that at a young age. They don't understand this. It's a very difficult thing. And exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a Gay Pride parade, and I don't know if you've ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other. It's just a terrible thing."When interviewer Matt Lauer noted that some of the content in Paladino's speech was written by the people he was addressing -- a group of Orthodox Jews -- Paladino said, "That section of my presentation was written, okay, and it was handed to a staffer and it was put into the [text]. I crossed it out. ""That group gets to write the comments they want you to make?" Lauer asked?"No," Paladino responded. "It was with a discussion, but then they went too far in the discussion and I crossed all that stuff out. The only part that I said was what you just quoted me" on about children being brainwashed.Asked to clarify the reference to homosexuality equating with "dysfunction," he replied, "I did not say that. It's unacceptable." Click play below to watch Paladino on the "Today" show:In his remarks Sunday, the Republican also had harsh words for his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, for marching in this year's gay pride parade. "[T]hat's not the example we should be showing our children," he said to applause.He added: "And don't misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie. My approach is live and let live."In his "Today" interview, Paladino took another swing at his opponent: "I was trying to define myself very clearly, as oppposed to Mr. Cuomo. Mr. Cuomo took his daughters to a Gay Pride parade. Is that normal? Would you do it? Would you take your children to a Gay Pride parade? . . . I don't think it is proper for them to go there and watch a couple of grown men grinding against each other. I don't think that's proper. It's disgusting."Paladino's campaign manager, Michael R. Caputo, told The New York Times on Sunday that the candidate employs a gay man on his campaign staff and said his views reflect those of the Catholic Church."Carl Paladino is simply expressing the views that he holds in his heart as a Catholic," Caputo told The Times . "Carl Paladino is not homophobic, and neither is the Catholic Church."Caputo continued that line in remarks to CNN."Carl Paladino's position on this is exactly equivalent to the Catholic Church," Caputo said . "And if Andrew Cuomo has a problem with the Catholic Church's position on abortion and homosexuality, he needs to take it up with his parish priest."Paladino's comments drew a harsh rebuke from the gay community."His words foster a climate of hatred and intolerance instead of helping heal the city of its wounds," Michael Silver, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, told the Daily News. Silver called on Paladino to apologize immediately.Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto blasted Paladino's comments."Mr. Paladino's statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality," Vlasto said in a statement. "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."Caputo disagreed. "The majority of New Yorkers agree with him," he said of Paladino's views on homosexuals and gay rights.Polls have shown 58 percent of New Yorkers favor gay marriage, which Paladino says he opposes. Polls have also shown Cuomo expanding his lead on Paladino after the gap had closed last month to six points.Paladino's own personal life has been an issue in the campaign. He has raised charges about Cuomo's sex life that he now admits are unsubstantiated, while Paladino is married but has a 10-year-old daughter from an affair with a former employee of his. He has also admitted to sending out obscene and racist e-mails. ||||| Yesterday was National Coming Out Day - a day devoted to supporting the members of the LGBT community who are our family, friends, and loved ones. It's an especially good time to affirm that support, given the fact that there have been several recent incidents of teenage suicide related to the broad discrimination and bigotry that gay teens face on a daily basis. Naturally, the Washington Post thought that the occasion called for an editorial from anti-gay bigot Tony Perkins, lest there be one day in which support for the LGBT community go without someone decrying them, for "balance." 
 
 The good news is that Perkins does come out against the practice of literally hounding gay teens to take their own life, so if you had imagined he might fail to clear the bar that is, in fact, laying on the ground, worry no more! But really, what's terrible is that organizations dedicated to people not being hounded to suicide because of their sexual orientation seem to want to advocate against the practice, as well: 
 
 However, homosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting these tragedies to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals, but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family. 
 
 Yes, how dare GLSEN speak out against the people who are driving teens to suicide. Why can't they learn to sit back, passively, and accept that teenage suicide is just part of being gay? 
 
 There is an abundance of evidence that homosexuals experience higher rates of mental health problems in general, including depression. However, there is no empirical evidence to link this with society's general disapproval of homosexual conduct. In fact, evidence from the Netherlands would seem to suggest the opposite, because even in that most "gay-friendly" country on earth, research has shown homosexuals to have much higher mental health problems. Within the homosexual population, such mental health problems are higher among those who "come out of the closet" at an earlier age. Yet GLSEN's approach is to encourage teens to "come out" when younger and younger--thus likely exacerbating the very problem they claim they want to solve. 
 
 Right away, you're probably wondering why the very obvious causal link is going unmentioned (it's because Perkins is an anti-gay bigot, remember?): 
 
 Per Media Matters: 
 
 While Perkins is right, "Several studies suggest that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals appear to have higher rates of some mental disorders compared with heterosexuals," he's totally wrong that these rates have nothing to do with discrimination. In fact, the article immediately goes on to report that "[d]iscrimination may help fuel these higher rates." The article reported: "In a study that examines possible root causes of mental disorders in LGB people, [Susan] Cochran [PhD] and psychologist Vickie M. Mays, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, explored whether ongoing discrimination fuels anxiety, depression and other stress-related mental health problems among LGB people. The authors found strong evidence of a relationship between the two." Several other studies back up this finding. 
 
 The truly galling thing, of course, is that Perkins is happy to share this opinion on any day of the year, but the WaPo thought that this would be a good thing to run on a day specifically given over to the support of the LGBT community. But then, 2010 has been a banner year for anti-gay sentiment at the paper. When the National Organization for Marriage took on Washington, DC's support for marriage equality, the Washington Post was happy to endorse their chosen emissary, Delano Hunter, in the Ward 5 council race against incumbent Harry Thomas. In a remarkably naive take on the matter, the Post's editors averred: 
 
 Mr. Hunter is not a supporter of marriage equality, but he is not the homophobe his critics make him out to be, but rather someone who thinks there is a way to provide equality for gays while respecting the beliefs of religious groups. He said he would not seek to change the law. 
 
 Oh, sure he wouldn't! NOM apparently felt very differently. You would think that the Post wouldn't be so easily snowed, but then again, this was the paper that penned a glowing profile of the organization's executive director -- a man who heads a pressure group dedicated to constructing byzantine theories about how the private lives and the desire for equality of the LGBT community is actually a form of tyranny -- "ruthlessly sane." 
 
 Maybe homophobes are the only people subscribing to newspapers or something? 
 
 [Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]
– Carl Paladino may have implied yesterday that homosexuality is not as “valid or successful” as heterosexuality, but that’s only because being gay is “a very, very ugly experience for those that are discriminated against,” he explains today. “And it shouldn’t be. Our society should be more accepting of them.” The New York gubernatorial candidate defended his remarks on Today, telling Matt Lauer that, far from being a homophobe, he actually believes “the discrimination against homosexuals is horrible. It’s terrible … I have a nephew and I have many workers who suffer that.” He also defended his comment about children being “brainwashed” into homosexuality, saying his only concern is that “children should not be exposed to that at a young age. Exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a Gay Pride parade, and I don't know if you've ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other … Would you take your children to a Gay Pride parade? I don't think it is proper for them to go there and watch a couple of grown men grinding against each other. I think it's disgusting." For more, including the original video of his controversial remarks, click here.