Roger Stone, a key adviser to New York
GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, is not as “disgusted”
by gay pride parades as the candidate and supports gay marriage.
“I'm a libertarian Republican,”
Stone told POLITICO.com. “I support Marriage Equality.”
Photos of a shirtless Stone getting his
ear licked by a scantly clad woman – identified by the New York
Post as “fitness model” Kat ForTra – at June's New York
City gay pride parade surfaced on Wednesday.
Stone told the paper that he marched in
the parade on behalf of Kristin Davis, a gubernatorial candidate
Stone is also advising. The self-described “Manhattan Madam”
supports legalizing gay marriage, gambling, prostitution and
marijuana.
Paladino created a firestorm of protest
when the told a group of Orthodox Jewish leaders that his opposition
to gay marriage stems from not wanting children “brainwashed into
thinking that homosexuality” is acceptable and hammered his rival
Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic state attorney general, for taking his
children to a gay pride parade, which Paladino called “disgusting”
and described as “extreme people in bikini type outfits grinding at
each other and doing these gyrations.”
On Tuesday, the Tea Party favorite
backed down, saying he was sorry “for any comment that may have
offended the gay and lesbian community.”
In an interview with the news website
The Daily Beast, Stone said he was shocked by Paladino's
remarks.
“It doesn't even seen to be
consistent with [Paladino's] 'live and let live' philosophy,” Stone
said. “When I asked what happened, the answer was no answer:
'Yeah, it was a f**k-up.'”
On Wednesday, the
cleric who introduced Paladino to his ultra-Orthodox community, Rabbi
Yehuda Levin, withdrew his endorsement after Paladino apologized for
his anti-gay remarks.