Upstate N.Y. Republican Leader Outed as Antigay Internet Troll

Brian Telesh

Associates of Brian Telesh have come forward with materials proving that the chairman of the Clifton Park, N.Y. Republican Committee has a past of making harsh antigay statements online.

The Albany Times Union acquired online postings from the past several years attributed to Telesh, a supporter of Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione who is challenging incumbent Sen. Roy McDonald.

Libby Post, a public relations executive and LGBT activist who also advised McDonald in the past, submitted statements that may belong to Telesh to the Times Union. One post attributed to Telesh shows him in 2003 saying that gay people are "no different than drug addicts, wife beaters, alcoholics or any other deviant behavior group." Telesh claims that his words were from a private email exchange, but his messages were published on the website, The Leviticus Files.

Another 2009 exchange on Facebook shows Telesh calling another poster, who called out his homophobia, a "Christ Killing Homo."

Telesh claims that several of the screenshots of record are "bogus screenshots" and that he would "never say anything along those lines."