Paladino Rented to Gay Clubs

Carl Paladino, the New York real-estate developer-turned-Tea Party-backed Republican gubernatorial candidate, rented space in his properties in Buffalo to two gay clubs as recently as 2005, the New York Daily News reports. Paladino came under fire in recent days for attacking what he has called “the homosexual agenda.” Cobalt, which his son William co-owned from 2004 to 2006, had an exclusively gay clientele, drag queen nights, and “boy-tenders” behind the bar. A review of Cobalt in Buffalo News said it had, "The queens, the techno, the cocktails, the kind of gyration normally confined to Manhattan." The club’s name was later changed to Tantra, and gay employees were fired in an attempt to draw a straight clientele—Tantra eventually closed down.