Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin attempts to appear gay friendly have fallen flat when without being asked mentioned one of her best friends who happens to be gay but who also "happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice (she herself would) have made."
"I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years who happens to be gay. And I love her dearly. And she is not my 'gay friend.' She is one of my best friends who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made. But I am not gonna judge people."
Her revelation came after she was asked about her views about "conversion therapy" and a Focus on the Family-linked 'Pray the Gay Away' program promoted by Wasilla Bible Church, a church she attends when she is in her hometown.
Palin told Couric in the second part of an exclusive interview which aired on Tuesday: "But what you're talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don't know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don't know what prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships."
Her comment has attracted a sharp rebuke by Jon Hoadley, executive director of National Stonewall Democrats.
"For Governor Palin to suggest that individuals randomly choose their sexual orientation based on nothing but a whim is wrong and it repeats the talking points of the anti-gay special interests which continue to control the McCain/Palin campaign and the Republican Party," Hoadley said in a statement.
At the much-awaited vice-presidential debate of the 2008 presidential campaign on Oct 2, Palin and Democrat Joe Biden - in a rare moment of agreement - said they did not support same-sex marriage but are agreeable to accord same-sex couples "visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, etc."
Biden said in the televised debate: "In an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a constitutional standpoint or a legal standpoint between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple."
"The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution we should be granted - same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera. That's only fair."
When asked if he supports gay marriage, he said: "No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage."
Palin's responded, "My answer is the same as his and it is that I do not," she said.
Massachusetts and California are the only U.S. states that allow same-sex marriage, though several states allow gay civil unions.
Excerpt of transcript of the vice presidential debate moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS
IFILL: The next round of - pardon me, the next round of questions starts with you, Sen. Biden. Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples?
BIDEN: Absolutely. Do I support granting same-sex benefits? Absolutely positively. Look, in an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a constitutional standpoint or a legal standpoint between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple.
The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution we should be granted - same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera. That's only fair.
It's what the Constitution calls for. And so we do support it. We do support making sure that committed couples in a same-sex marriage are guaranteed the same constitutional benefits as it relates to their property rights, their rights of visitation, their rights to insurance, their rights of ownership as heterosexual couples do.
IFILL: Governor, would you support expanding that beyond Alaska to the rest of the nation?
PALIN: Well, not if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. And unfortunately that's sometimes where those steps lead.
But I also want to clarify, if there's any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends and even within that group you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue, some very dear friends who don't agree with me on this issue.
But in that tolerance also, no one would ever propose, not in a McCain-Palin administration, to do anything to prohibit, say, visitations in a hospital or contracts being signed, negotiated between parties.
But I will tell Americans straight up that I don't support defining marriage as anything but between one man and one woman, and I think through nuances we can go round and round about what that actually means.
But I'm being as straight up with Americans as I can in my non-support for anything but a traditional definition of marriage.
IFILL: Let's try to avoid nuance, Senator. Do you support gay marriage?
BIDEN: No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that. That is basically the decision to be able to be left to faiths and people who practice their faiths, the determination, what you call it. The bottom line though is, and I'm glad to hear the governor, I take her at her word, obviously, that she think there should be no civil rights distinction, none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. If that's the case, we really don't have a difference.
IFILL: Is that what your said?
PALIN: Your question to him was whether he supported gay marriage and my answer is the same as his and it is that I do not.
To read the full transcript, click on to cnn.com