Orlando, FL – Over the weekend, local LGBT activist Michael Rajner met up with former Florida Governor Charlie Crist to discuss issues involving the LGBT community.

Crist was in town for the 2013 Florida Democratic Party State Conference at the Disney Yacht Club and Resort in Orlando, according to a blog post from Rajner.

“During our private meeting in his hotel suite, Crist and I discussed our departure from the Republican Party and how we aligned ourselves with the Democratic Party because it values and prioritizes the needs of all people,” Rajner wrote in an e-mail. “We spoke candidly about our families and life experiences, and I reminded him of a public dialogue we once had relating to abstinence-only sex education and how it fails to factor in the needs of LGBTQ youth and at-risk youth. We also discussed the staggering impact of HIV/AIDS in Florida and how South Florida leads the nation with the highest rates of new HIV-infections.”

In a special video Crist agreed to record following the private meeting, the former Governor had hopeful words for the Florida LGBT community.

“I think it’s important that we do everything we can to address [HIV/AIDS], and to stop discrimination against those who suffer from it,” Crist said. “Everybody needs help and deserves it. If I have the good fortune, if I decide to run for Governor in a few days, I’ll do everything in my authority to try to help.”

He then went on to discuss gay marriage, saying that since we have evolved and accepted various minorities over the years, it’s only natural to embrace marriage equality.

“It’s important for us to respect all others, not to tell people who to love, and not to tell people who to marry.”