Kicking The Gays Out Of Buffalo Bar Wasn’t Carl Paladino’s Awesome Idea

When the Buffalo bar Cobalt — which was managed by Carl Paladino’s son William and paid rent to one of Carl’s real estate company — made the switch from serving gay clientele to straights — it wasn’t an act of bigotry. Just business!

A former Cobalt bartender told The News that of the 10 bartenders there, only the three straight ones were kept on when the switch occurred. “If you’re trying to insinuate that Billy’s a homophobe, that’s very wrongheaded,” said Carl Paladino’s campaign manager, Michael Caputo. [...] Caputo called William Paladino’s decision to switch to a straight bar a “business decision,” but he made clear that the Republican gubernatorial candidate was not involved in the transition. “At one point, a business decision was made to change the direction of the business,” Caputo said. “How they did that was not something we know anything about.”

But what about all those gay bartenders being fired, and William keeping only the breeders?

Ex-Cobalt bartender Kevin Van Wagner told The News the management unceremoniously “got rid of” the gay workers. “We were watched,” he remembered. “You could tell there was a vibe that they got rid of us and didn’t want us back.”

And as governor, when Papa Paladino tries saving New York State with budget cuts, I’m sure he’s totally not going to follow his son’s strategy and will let gay state employees carry on.