Crist said he isn’t trying to take credit, but he told a group of real estate agents Friday that he’s had prayer notes placed in the Western Wall in Jerusalem each year and no major storms have hit Florida.

Crist noted that just before his election in 2006, Florida had been affected by a total of eight hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

“Do you know the last time it was we had a hurricane in Florida? It’s been awhile. In 2007, I took my first trade mission. Do you know where I went?” said Crist, a Methodist, referring to a trip to Israel.

He then told of going to the Western Wall and inserting a note with a prayer. He said it read, “Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and other difficulties. Charlie.”

“Time goes on – May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December – no hurricanes,” Crist said. “Thank God.”

Last year, Sen. Nan Rich was traveling to Israel and Crist asked her to put a note in the Western Wall, a holy site in Judaism and a place where written prayers are traditionally placed.

“It was the same note, by the way, the same prayer,” Crist said.

This year a friend was going to Israel and he gave him a prayer to put in the Western Wall.

“You can do it on the Internet now, but I’d rather have it physically in there,” Crist joked.

The note was placed in the wall in May.

“May, June, July, August – we’re getting closer,” Crist said. “Knock on wood. I would ask you all to say a prayer.”

Afterward, he said he’s not taking credit for the lack of storms in this hurricane-prone state.

“I give that to God,” Crist said. “But it’s nice.”

When questioned whether he would support changes to the law, Gov. Crist told reporters, “I’d have to think about it.”

Three hours later, however, Gov. Crist reaffirmed his support for “traditional families” only to adopt while speaking at an event in Jacksonville as a part of his statewide tour for “Explore Adoption Day.”

In 1977, Florida passed a law that made it the only state in the country to ban gay adaption. The American Civil Liberties Union is currently suing to have the law overturned. ACLU and other groups believe that preventing gay adoption prevents some children from being adopted.

“Excluding a class of people is harmful to children, particularly those in our state who have had gay foster parents,” ACLU spokesman Larry Spalding told The Associated Press.

Read the full Jacksonville.com story here.

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Dan Savage are having conversation about outing today. The back and forth started with Coates’ discussing an interview with Kirby Dick, director of Outrage. Coates confesses he understands the impulse to out those who stay in the closet and actively pursue an anti gay political agenda; however, he’s not clear if the outrage is worth the cost.

“I’m skeptical of man’s ability to bring justice to these people, in this fashion. It smells of divine retribution dispensed by childish mortals. What if the guy you outed kills himself? Can you wash your hands of that? Would you truly feel no guilt?”

Savage admits outing is callous but in some cases the full hammer is more than justified.

“Outing someone, as I wrote when I helped out one asshole and declined to participate in the outing of another, is a brutal tactic and should be reserved for brutes. [Larry] Craig and [Charlie] Crist more than qualify,” Savage responded referring to the Idaho’s former senator and Florida’s governor. “I don’t wanna be dramatic, but Craig and Crist have blood on their hands.”

I’m leaning toward Coates on this. Aside from ruining the life of someone who spent a lot of effort in destroying the lives of others, what is the political upswing with outing? What do we get from it? Could be my naive blinders on, but I’m not sure gays and lesbians get anything when an anti-gay person is shown to be who he/she is. Yes we lose a foe but outside of that not much else changes.

Lastly, this is something I can’t break from: anti-gay bigotry stings no matter if the offender likes his sodomy from Beyonce or Beckham. Or both.

About 100 members of Impact Florida wore wearing pink T- shirts that read: “Congratulations Governor Crist! When can I get married?” The group held a silent vigil as the wedding party entered the church.

Other protesters, demanding jail time for police who have shot and killed a young black man in St. Petersburg this summer, chanted that Crist was a “murderer.”

One anti-gay protester also showed up. Larry Keffer went through the demonstrations holding a sign reading “Homo Sex is Sin.” At various points he yelled to the gay protesters, “You must repent, Jesus Christ is the only way.”

The demonstrators were kept by a large police contingent from getting too close to the church.

After the wedding, the Impact Florida group followed Crist and bride and about 200 wedding guests to a nearby reception.

Gay rights groups are angry with the governor for his support of an amendment to the Florida constitution that passed last month barring same-sex marriage in the state.

Crist’s wedding announcement surprised many in Florida’s gay community. There had been longtime rumors and speculation that Crist, a former state attorney general,  was gay and in the closet.

During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, independent candidate Max Linn said on a radio talk show that it is common knowledge in Tallahassee that Crist is gay.

“Charlie come out, come out from wherever you are,” Linn said during an interview on WFTL.

Crist has disputed constant rumors over his sexuality.

After speculation began over his possible naming as Sen. John McCain’s running mate, Crist, 52, announced his engagement to Rome, 39.

Protest, however, is part of Impact-Florida’s plan on Dec. 12, when the once-divorced governor of Florida marries Carole Rome.

When Crist won the gubernatorial election in 2006, surviving a brutal primary with an opponent who resorted to gay-baiting, I wouldn’t have imagined gay rights demonstrators picketing his wedding. He was a moderate Republican seeking to succeed Jeb Bush in Tallahassee.

But Crist seemed the moderate in 2006 not because of his positions on gay rights or choice or a host of other social issues, but because his opposition in the primary seemed so far to the right.

And now the governor — a potential presidential candidate in 2012 — is facing gay rights demonstrators, who will “respectfully” picket outside his wedding ceremony at the First United Methodist Church and the black-tie optional reception at the elegant Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg.

Crist will say “I do” inside First United. He’ll exit the church, where he will find demonstrators in pink T-shirts. “After the positive congratulatory observance, there will be a candlelight vigil close to the [Vinoy] in downtown St. Pete to mourn the loss of gays’ right to get married,” read a statement from Impact-Florida, the group organizing the protest.

Why the demonstrators?

Because Crist endorsed Amendment 2, which changed the Florida Constitution to state, “Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

Amendment 2 passed with 62 percent of the vote on Nov. 4.

Charlie Crist, with all his Sunshine Start charm, didn’t work the crowds on Amendment 2. He didn’t stump for the measure — in fact, during a question-and-answer session with the press as recently as early August he needed an explanation of the proposal before he said, “I support it.”

But Crist did endorse Amendment 2, and I don’t think it simply coincidence that at the same time he was scoring points on the right he was getting mentions as a potential running mate for John McCain.

Crist, as any regular viewer of “Saturday Night Live” knows, didn’t get chosen as a political mate in 2008. But he did find a domestic partner and is about to enter a relationship that legally entitles him to 1,000-plus rights and benefits withheld from those who are not married, including gays and lesbians who cannot marry.

Crist is about to enter a relationship that provides him security and stability that Amendment 2’s passage withholds or takes away from many other Floridians. An estimated 400,000 Floridians who are gay or straight are in domestic partnership relationships. And with the broadly written language of Amendment 2, those in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships may lose partnership benefits or find it increasingly more difficult to secure them.

Today, Dec. 8, were Crist to seek domestic partner coverage of some kind for his significant other, Amendment 2’s existence might be used to turn him down. After Dec. 12 and his wedding, no question, no problem.

Florida law severely curtails gift-giving to a politician, even on his wedding day. Crist’s wedding invitations went out with an enclosed card that read, “No gifts please, due to Florida law.”

But even without the law, I don’t think the governor would be getting Tiffany’s from his gay constituents. He’ll be getting what he deserves on Dec. 12 — demonstrators.

But that does not mean Crist opposes the measure.

“I’ll support it. I’ll vote for it. Move on,” the governor told the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s not top tier for me, put it that way.”

Instead, Crist said he would concentrate on getting Sen. John McCain elected.

The Crist decision did not surprise LGBT activists working to defeat the proposed amendment. Before becoming governor, Crist as attorney general also was lukewarm on the issue.

But it also may be an indication of his need for broad-based support in the state. Recent polls indicate the amendment measure will likely fail to garner enough support to succeed.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday finds that 55 percent of voters support the amendment, but that is short of the 60 percent needed to amend the constitution.

Three months ago, a similar Quinnipiac poll found support was at 58 percent of voters, and a Mason-Dixon poll in August found support at 57 percent.

The newest Quinnipiac poll, of 1,427 Florida voters, was taken last week and has a 2.6 percent margin of error.

Florida already has a law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples, but supporters of the amendment say the law could be overturned in court.

The conservative group Florida4Marriage attempted to have the proposed amendment placed on the 2006 ballot but fell short of the required number of signatures. Under Florida law, the organization was allowed to continue to add names to the petition in a bid to get it on the 2008 ballot. It was certified in February to go on the November ballot.

Opponents of the proposed amendment say in addition to barring gay marriage it would bar civil unions and would be used to deny partner benefits not only to same-sex couples but also to unmarried couples who live together.

That has spurred Florida Red and Blue, a non-partisan organization, to enter the fray on behalf of unmarried opposite-sex couples.

Last year in just 60 days, the group amassed more than $1 million to battle the proposed amendment.

The Republican governor, who is said to be on Jon McCain’s shortlist for a running mate, used a stop to promote another proposed amendment, that would cut property taxes by an average of 25 percent for all property owners in the state, to voice his support for the marriage amendment.

Although Crist was one of those who signed petitions that led to the proposed amendment being accepted for the November ballot, the governor said this was the first time he has publicly called for voters to support it.

The amendment says, “Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, independent candidate Max Linn, during an appearance on a radio talk show, said it is common knowledge in Tallahassee that Crist is gay.

“Charlie come out, come out from wherever you are,” Linn said during an interview on WFTL.

Crist has disputed constant rumors over his sexuality.

After speculation began over his possible naming as McCain’s running mate, Crist announced his engagement to Carole Rome.

Florida already has a law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, but supporters of the amendment fear it could be overturned in court. 

Meanwhile, in California, which also will have a proposed amendment on the November ballot that would bar same-sex marriage the Roman Catholic Church has begun a campaign to support the measure.

The California Bishops Conference has issued a statement encouraging church members to “to provide both the financial support and the volunteer efforts needed for the passage of Proposition 8.”

The bishops also said they are developing materials for parish priests to use in their churches to support the proposed amendment.

California is one of only two states where same-sex marriage is legal.  The other is Massachusetts.