Another TV news personality has been urged not to have children. The twist is that this time it is a male anchor, not a woman.

For those not enamored of following Florida media insider baseball, you can bail out now. But for the rest of us media whores, there is a wonderful story that has been playing out for a week or so in Miami, where the ABC affiliate WPLG has fired one of its anchors who now claims it is because he is (gasp!) gay.

Charles Perez has fought back, with a sexual orientation discrimination complaint (which he claims triggered the firing) and a blog post in the Daily Beast in which he details his claims that station management was afraid of his increasing gay profile and urged him not to have children with his male partner. (The station, in written statements, denies Perez’s allegations.)

Perez writes:

Bottom line, I believe they sold me out as soon as my being gay became too widely known. It made them uncomfortable and made me, in their eyes, less advertiser-friendly. They’d demoted me two weeks earlier from main weekday anchor to weekend anchor. It was a move I quickly recognized was leading to the door, and I wasn’t prepared to watch my career circle down the drain.

My ex-employer will never admit this, but if the past decades have taught us anything, it is to be much more subtle about our prejudices. Getting rid of “the black guy” or “the woman” or “the gay guy” or “the Jew”—not to mention many other select groups—has given way to “we really should go in a different direction.” Or “we’ve really got to consider what’s the least objectionable choice.”

And he continues:

One of my colleagues, a higher-up at the station, told me: “The weekends will be better for you, anyway, Charles. You and Keith [my partner] want to have kids. It’s a lot less high-profile there.”

It was a suggestion that never would have been made to one of my straight colleagues, male or female. The only thing I could take from it was that my profile as a gay man, especially if I were to have kids and, God forbid, get married, would render me less promotable and less advertiser-friendly.

In fact, over the previous five months, I’d been told, “Don’t get married, Charles. We don’t need that.” I’d also been told not to have children. In essence: “You’re the main anchor and you’re gay, but let’s not push it.”

To me, having the family I want is not pushing it. Living with love, commitment, and dignity is not pushing it.

By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor
Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

Keith Meinhold is one of many decorated veterans who can no longer serve his country … because he’s gay.

His story:

My fellow Floridian,

I served as an aircrew instructor aboard the Navy’s P-3C Orion aircraft and flew combat missions throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Persian Gulf.

Despite being rated in the top ten percent of all Navy instructors I was kicked out of the Navy after coming out on a national news broadcast as part of an effort to stop a witch hunt against other gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.

I’m writing to you today because together we have a unique opportunity to right a wrong.

Please sign our letter to the Florida congressional delegation urging them to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law bans gays, lesbians and bisexuals from serving openly in the U.S. military. Because of this law, more than 13,000 dedicated military personnel have had their careers taken away, their dignity dragged through the mud and their families torn apart. These discharges have included Arabic linguists, pilots, medics and others that held critical skill sets vital to our national security.

Please sign our letter to the Florida congressional delegation urging them to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Every day we are getting closer to the 218 co-sponsors needed to pass the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1283 in the U.S. House of Representatives) and repeal this backward law. With 168 co-sponsors as of today, we are just 50 short of the mark. With your help we can meet our objective over the next 60 days, and have a real shot at getting a vote this year.

As a Floridian, I am proud to report that today there is real momentum for repeal right here in our state. Nine members of Florida’s congressional delegation ranging from Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Miami) to Democrat Kathy Castor (Tampa) have co-sponsored this historic legislation. And thanks to the hard work of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network city governments, the latest being Miami, are passing resolutions in support. Now, we need your help.

Please sign our letter to the Florida congressional delegation urging them to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Following my discharge a Federal court reinstated me into Navy where I served for another four years openly gay. It was the most rewarding four years of my career. My crew flew combat missions over the Persian Gulf and was recognized by the Navy as the most combat effective in the Pacific Fleet. I was also awarded the Navy Achievement Medal. I am the first openly gay man to retire from active duty with full military honors. With your support there will be many more.

Thank you in advance for your commitment to justice for every active duty military service member and veteran in the United States.

Yours in service,

Keith Meinhold
Petty Officer 1st Class, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Miami, Florida

“Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” don’t work. Removing effective soldiers and officers because they are a gay is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. We can’t afford to lose patriots like Meinhold – our country’s security is too important.

Angela Rouson stepped into the Creative Loafing recording studio this week to discuss her campaign for St. Petersburg City Council in District 5, against fellow newcomers Steve Kornell and retired police officer Joe Smith. Yes, she’s the wife of powerhouse (and controversial) African American politician Darryl Rouson; but she came off as her own person — bright, articulate, well-informed and passionate — in her recent Suncoast Tiger Bay Club event, and she likewise was engaging in this interview.

I asked her if she felt that St. Pete cops were being “reined in” and not fighting crime to the fullest of their ability, and she said:

I’ve talked with the sheriff, Sheriff Coats, I’ve talked with Chief Harmon (and done ride-alongs with both agencies), and the general consensus is there is some of that. And there is also a lack of resources to be able to address issues, because if you are going to take down, for example, a drug house, you need more than one officer on the beat. I think they are being held back to some extent, but I think resources play into that as well.

Is there a racial political component to the police being held back?

I can’t really answer that question. But what I can say is there is no rational reason for not addressing the crime. …As a member of City Council I’m going to work to make sure that the mayor works with the chief of police to be more aggressive in addressing the issues.

I also asked her — given her husband’s controversial anti-gay statement that being gay was “morally wrong” (he later apologized for saying it) — if she would participate in St. Pete Pride and about her stance on domestic partner benefits. Hear her answers after the jump in the full podcast:

Download the interview here.

By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor
Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

When Alexandra Zayas from the St. Petersburg Times called to talk about the Channel 8 protests, I couldn’t have been happier. Intelligent, friendly, compassionate — Zayas understood the topic and had done the research. She was covering the protest and surrounding story, gathering opposing points of view from friend and foe alike.

Hers would be a well-rounded story. I could just tell. So I was happy to contribute a verse.

But then the editors at the Times dropped the ball. They reassigned Alex and gave her story to Ileana Morales, whose account of the protest is half-assed.

I’m not blaming Morales. She was probably working on a tight deadline with a word-limit more appropriate for elementary school book reports.

The blame lies with the St. Petersburg Times. When they give more space to stories like this one about a horror film, one can’t help but wonder why an important media event like the Channel 8 protests got barely 260 words.

Unlike this video, their article doesn’t quote Nadine Smith, Lorna Bracewell, or any of the major players who could articulate a compelling argument.

I’m not just bitching because she left out my point of view.

I’m bitching because the article makes it look like a handful of troublemakers took to the streets when in reality there were over a hundred well-informed protesters. Mentioning the freak show who put a swastika on his poster is also telling. That idiot doesn’t even come close to representing the majority of intelligent people who braved the heat and abuse of drivers simply to make their voices heard.

I may have disagreed with their premise, but gay rights activists in our community deserve better than they got. Watch out St. Pete Times. Or those red shirts might come for you next.

Gays and straights alike carried red flags (a comment on a Media General exec who said the station viewed Speechless: Silencing Christians and “it didn’t raise any red flags”) and signs relabeling the NBC affiliate in Tampa Bay as News Channel H8 on Wednesday afternoon. More than 100 protesters gathered along Kennedy Boulevard in front of the station’s News Center to draw attention to the hate program that was aired for what they believe was $35,000 paid by a Christian group.

In a sign of political courage, Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder attended the rally and said of News Channel 8’s decision,”This is not who Tampa is. This type of hate is just not acceptable in our community.” Dingfelder is running for a County Commission seat, a demographic that is much more to the right than the city of Tampa where he has served two terms.

Watch CL video coverage of the rally after the jump.

Here they are:

CL will be staffing the protest and bring you coverage on Twitter and video we’ll post on the blog.

By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor

As we remember Stonewall and the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, the progressive community is understandably frustrated with the pace of our administration in bringing about real change.

They have a point.

Enough already with the military’s ridiculous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

And it’s about time we legalize gay marriage.

Yet after the stunning parades this weekend and the first official recognition of the movement by a sitting working US President, I’m filled with more hope than ever before.

Which is why I didn’t allow my blood pressure to rise when WFLA/News Channel 8 aired an “it would be disturbing if it weren’t so silly” documentary infomercial Saturday night about wicked gays trying to silence Christians. I urged my fellow libs to take deep breaths and see this program for what it was — a spoiled brat stomping his feet and holding his breath in the hopes of getting attention and that last piece of cake.

“Their world is ending, Mary,” I said with a giggle. “It’s falling down around them and they can’t do a thing to stop it. Let’s not be so reactionary. Pass the Sangria and shut the fuck up. I want to hear what these freakshows have to say so I can make fun of them later.”

My calls for calm were roundly ignored. Equality Florida and St. Pete Pride urged boycotts and asked supporters to write letters, send emails, and make phone calls (oh my) designed to make it all go away.

And yet the show went off without a hitch.

Either News Channel 8 wasn’t impressed or paradegoers were too busy using their mouths and hands for other pursuits.

It was, after all, a Saturday night.

But a few of my gays started screaming and using the c-word.

And that’s when I put my motherfucking foot down.

We should be extremely concerned when we start behaving like the tyrannical fundies we rail against. And the whole, “Would it be all right to allow Holocaust deniers to broadcast a program on Rosh Hashanah?” smacks of intellectual desperation.

Come on, we can do better than succumb to a lazy metaphor.

Let’s get angry about the lies the radical right spews under their crosses and from behind their Bibles. Absolutely, let’s laugh among ourselves about how funny it is that their movement is dying and true equality is within reach. Let’s counter illogical arguments with reasoned debate and religious mumbo-jumbo with good old-fashioned wisdom.

If we try to shut them up, their rallying cry becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Who needs that? Haters are like roaches, running for cover when the light of knowledge and truth shines upon them.

I prefer they stay in the light. It’s easier to aim the bug spray.

And besides, Mary, that’s how we’ll win.

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

The Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next week with the groups, in an apparent effort to smooth over tensions in the wake of the controversy over the administration’s defense in court of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Tracy Russo, a spokesperson for Justice, confirmed the meeting to me, after I posted … that top gay rights lawyers were miffed that administration lawyers had rebuffed their requests to meet and discuss ongoing litigation involving DOMA.

At the meeting — which hasn’t been announced and is expected to include leading gay rights groups like GLAD and Lambda Legal — both sides are expected to hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases.

By Lorna Bracewell
PoHo contributor

eQuality Giving, an online community that provides strategic advice for philanthropists interested in legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans, has ranked all 50 states according to the number of Equality Goals each has achieved. On this States of Equality list, Florida ranks an embarrassing 37th with a score of 1.5 out of a possible 6 points barely beating out Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and other shining beacons of progressivism.

What hurt the Sunshine State’s score?

First, its lack of any law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. That’s right. In Florida, it is perfectly legal to fire or deny employment to someone because you think they’re gay or because you don’t think they perform their gender in the most appropriate way according to you. (Interview tip for female job seekers in Florida: Shave your pits and ensure your shoes appear to be adequately uncomfortable.)

Second, Florida is the only state in the entire country with a law on the books banning homosexuals from adopting children. Other states, like Utah and Arkansas, have laws which prohibit unmarried couples from adopting, but only Florida explicitly singles out “homosexuals” as ineligible. (We have Miss America contestant turned orange juice spokeswoman turned anti-gay activist Anita Bryant to thank for this one.)

Third, Amendment 2 (added to Florida’s Constitution this past November) guarantees that marriage equality (or anything vaguely resembling it) will be a long time coming to the people of the great state of Florida.

While this list gives Floridians an additional topic to grumble about, there is a sunny side to our abysmal showing. Perhaps the fair-minded philanthropists of the world will look at this list and take pity on us. After all, we do have a U.S. Senate seat and a Governor’s mansion to fill…

So even before my first cuppa this morning I am subjected to a live Today Show interview with beauty queen aspirant Carrie Prejean, the Miss California entrant who believes that celebrity blogger and out-gay Perez Hilton cost her the Miss USA title with his query about same-sex marriage.

So giving her the benefit of the doubt at that time, Prejean was a very bad question-answerer.

Now, however, we have confirmation that she is a bonafide gay hater. Prejean is part of an anti-gay-marriage advertisement being unveiled today by a national anti-gay group. It won’t embed, so you have to check it out here. Politico reports:

The anti-same-sex marriage National Organization for Marriage is trying to turn the tables on gay rights activists this morning with a new ad accusing them of attacking Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean for opposing gay marriage.

The ad … will be released at a press conference with Prejean — the new star of that movement — today in Washington, D.C.

Video of Prejean on Fox News right after the pageant after the jump.