Paladino’s Gay Nephew Speaks Out

   Carl Paladino's openly gay nephew -- whom the candidate points to as proof he's no homophobe -- said yesterday he was "very offended" by his uncle's anti-gay rants.
    Jeff Hannon, 23, a staffer for the Paladino campaign, also hasn't shown up at work since the bomb-throwing GOP gubernatorial hopeful made his caustic comments about homosexuality, one of Hannon's co-workers told The Post.

    In a brief phone interview yesterday, Hannon, in his first public remarks on the incident, told The Post, "Obviously, I'm very offended by his comments." Hannon said he had no further comments "right now," before hanging up. Jeff Hannon -- a campaign staffer for Carl Paladino, as well as his nephew -- hasn't shown up for work since the GOPer's now-infamous talk at a Brooklyn synagogue, where he said kids shouldn't be "brainwashed" into gay acceptance. The staffer hasn't been seen at campaign headquarters in Buffalo since Sunday, one worker said. "Everybody was talking about it today. They are worried about him," said the worker. "They think he's upset."
    Hannon graduated from SUNY-Buffalo in 2008 and majored in political science, according to his page on MySpace.com.
    In April, he tweeted, "Finally some love 4 us gays!" and linked to a newspaper article about President Obama extending federal benefits to same-sex partners of government workers.
    Meanwhile, a humbled Paladino yesterday admitted he screwed up -- after two days of standing by his comments about gays.
    "I sincerely apologize for any comment that may have offended the gay and lesbian community or their family members. Any reference to branding an entire community based on a small representation of them is wrong," he said in a statement.
    The Republican candidate said he would reach out to gay leaders "to educate me on how to better represent my support for the rights of all citizens."
    "I ask you for forgiveness on my poorly chosen words," he said.
    Paladino caused an uproar when he told congregants at a Brooklyn synagogue on Sunday that he doesn't want kids "brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality" is acceptable.
His prepared statement -- which he ended up not reading in its entirety -- went even further, saying that "there is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual."
    After his remarks were widely condemned, Paladino initially refused to back down.
    He even blasted his Democratic rival, Andrew Cuomo, for bringing his kids to the Gay Pride Parade to "watch a couple of grown men grind against each other."
    Paladino pointed to his nephew by marriage, Hannon, as proof that he isn't a homophobe.
He said Hannon "suffers every day with discriminatory people."
    Yesterday, Gov. Paterson called Paladino's original comments about gays "tragic."
   Meanwhile, the AP reports that state records show that Paladino once collected rent from two gay clubs located in buildings he owned in downtown Buffalo. One of them, called Cobalt, operated as a gay bar from 2004 to 2005 and was run by Paladino’s son, William.

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