Fired Gaynchor Charles Perez And His Fiancé Are Moving Out Of Florida

Former news anchor Charles Perez, who maintains he was either fired over being gay or for having “gender identity issues,” is moving out of Florida with his fiancé Keith Rinehard and heading to Connecticut. In a Miami Herald op-ed piece studded with puns, Perez informs his adoring fans that he is moving out of the Sunshine State to a place that is decidedly “warmer” in its treatment of the gay community. 

Charles Perez holds an interesting place in Latino pop culture because he’s a (or once was a) successful media figure who is openly gay and has been given a platform to air his views, seemingly unedited. So. What’s he got to say! A lot, it turns out. About myriad issues we’re not sure anyone asked him about:

On Florida

To those who visit here, Florida must seem somewhat schizophrenic. We sell ourselves as a great place to come and play, a multicultural paradise where you can be who you are, as long as you respect the rights and privileges or everyone else. Not so if you’re gay and you decide to stay. You’ll be greeted by a regressive system of laws more emblematic of a backwater state than one that now, because of its population, draws comparisons to California and New York.

Wait a sec. Are you talking about the same Florida we’re from? Because if anyone is going to compare Florida to California, they best not forget that these states contain the cities of Daytona Beach and Bakersfield, respectively. 

On Christian beliefs

 I grew up as a Catholic. I was an altar boy. I went to a Catholic high school in Fort Lauderdale. I still consider myself a Christian, at least in philosophy: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is an ethic shared in Judeo-Christianity that has at its core a call for tolerance and love. However, I am also cognizant that for most of the history of Christianity, the church and its many offspring often sided against the forces of compassion and used fear, threats and ignorance as their most powerful tools.

We see why Perez would include talk about Christian teachings and Catholic opinions since they relate to much of this nation’s discourse on homosexuality but, like. What does this have to do with his move? 

On Not 

As long as my homosexuality is confined to the “immoral” by some, questions about my right to marry, adopt kids and be protected in the workplace will persist. I also have green eyes, by the way. They are as much a part of me as is my sexual orientation. My green eyes have as much to do with my morality as does my sexual orientation. I can cover them with contacts, but I cannot change them. They are inseparable from who I am, as homosexuality is inseparable from human history.

Perez adds that he will now be able to marry his partner and that the two can start a family by adopting some womb ferrets. We’re happy for him. And we hope his allegedly stalky/crazy ex doesn’t plan any road trips to Connecticut soon. You might recall that Perez said his bosses at WPLG advised him not to have children because that’d be “pushing” the gay thing to a whole ‘nother level. 

Charles Perez and his fiancé. Damn, son.

We still can’t shake our opinion that Perez’s multiple op-ed pieces about being fired shift the focus from a fairly global issue involving the mistreatment and judgment of queer people in the workplace to a list of anecdotes and complaints that, while connected to the struggle for equal rights, really come down to this being turned into The Charles Perez Show II: Less Fun Than When We Featured Strippers & Stuff. Comparing his own issues at his former workplace (which, it should be noted, his former boss, also an out gay man, has repeatedly referred to as fabrications and nonsense) to the Holocaust, contrasting himself with lesbians as if this is a “them versus us” situation, and comparing himself  to Martin Luther King has really worked to take away, for us, from any message he had wished to impart via his journey. That said, we’re still relieved to have one more out, proud, gay Latino to name and keep an eye on. 

Editorial by gay ex-TV anchor Charles Perez: We’re off to a `warmer’ place [The Miami Herald]