Mr. Burke was unclear as to which of Mr. Rooney's remarks caused the suspension, suggesting that at least some of the commentator's other statements had caused concern at the division. Mr. Rooney has also made some enemies at the network for his outspokenness on other matters, including his comments three years ago when a new CBS management team laid off hundreds of staff members.

Yesterday Mr. Rooney, his voice strained with emotion, repeated his denial of having made the remarks attributed to him in The Advocate. ''I did not say, nor would I ever have thought, that blacks have watered down their genes,'' he said in a telephone interview. ''It is a know-nothing statement, which I abhor. I am a reporter and essayist who has established his credibility over a period of more than 40 years. People know what I think. I do not think blacks are inferior.

''Mr. Burke,'' he continued, ''was put in a difficult position, and I accepted his offer of suspension rather than to permanently end my career at CBS.'' But he added, ''I am not a racist. It makes me tremble to think of it.''

Mixed Reactions

The reaction yesterday from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance to the suspension was mixed.

''We're pleased that CBS has taken the allegations of Rooney's bigotry seriously,'' said Karin Schwartz, the assistant director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. ''However, we wonder why CBS didn't act definitively when the issue was only homophobia. I don't believe it's a coincidence that the day after allegations of racism appeared in the press, CBS acts definitively. We are not in the business of trying to evaluate different kinds of bigotry. It's all bad.''

On Wednesday Mayor David N. Dinkins expressed his concern about Mr. Rooney's remarks to CBS News executives. Yesterday, he said: ''In my mind, Mr. Rooney's unwillingness to disavow his anti-gay remarks taints the credibility of his denial of racist comments about African-Americans. I find it difficult to believe that an individual who is apparently willing to embrace prejudice toward one group would not be capable of making prejudicial comments about another. Before he is reinstated, CBS News ought to be certain it will not be embarrassed by Mr. Rooney in the future.''

Mr. Rooney had the support of at least one important CBS colleague. ''I've known Rooney for almost half a century, and I know he is not a racist,'' said Walter Cronkite, the former CBS News anchor, who is now a member of the network's board of directors, in a prepared statement. ''He is an independent thinker and a courageous social critic. His more outrageous comments are bound to offend one element or another of the population from time to time, but any suggestion that such a rare voice should be silenced indicates a dangerous weakness in our pluralistic, democratic society.''