New York gubernatorial candidate criticizes gays

New York (CNN) — New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino criticized gays Sunday, saying he didn’t want children “to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option,” compared to heterosexuality.

“It isn’t,” Paladino said at a stop in Brooklyn, New York.

A prepared version of his remarks obtained by CNN from New York affiliate NY1 said that “There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual,” though Paladino did not wind up delivering that line.

“That’s not how (God) created us,” the prepared remarks continued, though Paladino did not say those words.

Paladino distributed copies of his prepared remarks to reporters at the event, an address to a group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.

The candidate’s remarks came a day after New York police announced the arrest of an eighth suspect in a series of brutal, anti-gay hate crimes against four men.