Charlie Crist's not looking to shore up anti-gay sentiment this election season.

Florida's governor said yesterday that while he'll vote for Proposition 2, which would amend the state's constitution and ban gay marriage, he won't actively campaign on the issue. Instead, he's looking to help out Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

"I'll support it, I'll vote for it, move on," the governor said of the Amendment 2 gay-marriage ban in an interview during a trip to tour flood-damaged areas in Central Florida. "It's not top-tier for me, put it that way."
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When asked if he'll spend time plugging Amendment 2, Crist said, "I don't think so. I think I will campaign for candidates much more extensively — Sen. McCain." The governor also reiterated his position of precluding the Republican Party of Florida from spending money to support the gay-marriage ban.

And, yes, Crist's still engaged, despite Chuck Todd's prediction that the Governor would break up with Carole Rome if McCain didn't pick him as his running mate.

Poor Charlie Crist. Everyone's constantly making fun of the Florida Governor's engagement to Carole Rome, a wealthy New York socialite!

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Things are no doubt sticky on Charlie Crist's end.

The Floridian Governor and suspected homosexual celebrated this Fourth of July by getting engaged to his convenient girlfriend, New York socialite Carole Rome. The engagement comes as rumors swirl John McCain may select Crist as his running mate. Thus, the impending nuptials would provide great cover for all the distasteful gay debate surrounding the well-tanned politico.

But, like so many rumors, this one simply won't quit.

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The national election may be the best thing to happen to Charlie Crist's visibility. With speculation that Crist could run as John McCain's vice-president, the press, pundits and regular joes seem to have an unprecedented fascination with the Floridian governor. And, considering chatter that he's a closet case, the politico's personal life gets a fair amount of attention. From journo Deborah Solomon's chat with the 51-year old:

DS: You were married nearly 30 years ago, but the marriage lasted less than a year. Do you prefer living alone?
CC: I got married and divorced because it didn’t work out. I haven’t found the right one since. It’s really that simple.

DS:You can’t find one woman in all of Florida?
CC:Maybe I have. Stay tuned.

Could Crist be referring to politically convenient girlfriend Carole Rome? If so, she's not from Florida, but from New York. Could there be another lady on the back burner?! We doubt it.

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Florida's young gays can breathe a little easier.

The state's Senate yesterday passed unanimously a comprehensive, queer inclusive anti-bullying bill, which has been either years in the making. And you can be sure gay group Equality Florida's leading lady, Nadine Smith, celebrated in epistolary style:

Thanks to the thousands of messages you sent to the Florida Senate and a last minute lobbying effort in Tallahassee, Senators heard our call and brought the long overdue Anti-Bullying bill up for a vote and passed it. Governor Crist has expressed support for the bill many times in the past and it now awaits his signature.

Equality Florida's goal has always been to provide the strongest protections possible for Florida's students, including LGBT students. Because of your commitment and persistence over the years, all of Florida's students will be protected under this bill. In passing the bill the sponsors repeated again and again that this law protects LGBT students.

And they all lived happily ever after…

Florida's lost children got a Senatorial ally this week. Nan Rich, a Democrat from Weston, put forth a bill that will effectively overturn the Sunshine State's ban on gay adoption. Under Rich's law, judges are told to rule in the child's best interest, rather than along ideological lines:

Under Rich's bill, gay foster parents would be allowed to adopt children if a judge rules it's in the child's best interest. Also, a gay adult would be considered a potential adoptive parent if he or she were the legal guardian of the child whose parents had died.

Rich's proposal has received support from a number of groups including the National Council of Jewish Women, ACLU and Planned Parenthood.

Those who have opposed changing the ban include Governor Charlie Crist, who has publicly supported civil unions between gay couples, and state Senator Ronda Storms of Brandon, who ran for office on a pledge to prevent gays from being foster parents.

Storms currently heads the committee considering Rich's bill and has vowed not to vote or debate the matter. Ah, democracy in action!

Floridian Governor Charlie Crist's bringing out the big guns! The potential vice-presidential nominee wants to cement his questionable heterosexuality:

For months, Gov. Charlie Crist has insisted that New York socialite Carol Rome is just "a friend," but Tuesday night at a soiree in the Governor's Mansion, he introduced her as "my girlfriend," says the Tallahassee Democrat, which snapped the picture above.

In November, the New York Post reported that Rome, in the midst of divorcing Bluestar Jets CEO Todd Rome, was dating Crist. Then, the governor's staff said Rome, a mother of school-age girls, was just "a friend."

Still, last month Crist took Rome to the White House for a dinner with President Bush. So far, that's two high-profile dates for just a "friend."

Has Crist found love or does he think American voters are blind, deaf and - most importantly - dumb?

Will Charlie Crist be John McCain's running mate this November? That's what some people are saying. And the Floridian governor recently came out for the Republican candidate. Too bad he's also got loads of baggage - years of queer rumor. Those rumors will definitely grow come a nomination. Bob Norman writes:

If McCain chooses Crist, it would be interesting to see how the voracious national press (as opposed to cautious Florida newspapers) would handle the issue. Would the New York Times put a small team of reporters on the story in an effort to dig up the truth?

I think so. Just last week, a writer with a major national magazine called me on the topic. He said he was doing a general piece about the recent spate of Republican outings and scandals, but the V.P. talk surely has given a bit of urgency to the project.

Well, at least the McCain camp's getting a heads up, so to speak…