Atop television reporter Trevor Pettiford’s cluttered desk in the FOX5 newsroom sits an important picture.

The photo features his mother, father and partner. It highlights Pettiford’s journey from a frightfully closeted newsman in Dayton, Ohio, to someone secure enough to give keynote speeches at the recent Black Gay Pride celebration and an upcoming Georgia Equality event.

“When I first started out in my hometown, I was closeted,” said Pettiford, 39, a Bowling Green State University graduate. “My mom was a politician in town, so the name was already known, and it would make me nervous to think I would go out anywhere.”

After television and newspaper jobs in Ohio, Pettiford moved to Orlando, Fla., to become a bureau chief at the local ABC affiliate. In a new town and in a newsroom with three other gay reporters, Pettiford began to socialize and feel more at ease with his sexual orientation.

“When I moved to Orlando it became a little bit more comfortable because I was away from home,” Pettiford said. “That’s when I started going out and getting involved in the community and found that the newsroom was comfortable with that.”

Pettiford and his coworkers — including some heterosexuals — went to gay bars in Orlando, visited Walt Disney World during Gay Days and started holding backyard cookouts, activities Pettiford attributes to finally finding security.

“Before that I was pretty much sheltered from the gay community — I don’t even know if there was much of one — in my hometown,” he said. “It just made me more comfortable because I saw there were others like me.

“The atmosphere — that was the first time I had knowingly been around people who were openly gay,” Pettiford said.

Coming to Atlanta
Motivated by being in a slow news bureau in Orlando, Pettiford began searching for a career move, and his agent landed him the reporting position at WAGA FOX5 in 1998.

“Moving here to Atlanta, I’m going, ‘Well how are they going to accept me?’” Pettiford said about his new coworkers. “I didn’t immediately come out, but it just began to evolve.”

In 1999, Pettiford officially came out to his parents during a visit home. But “you know, parents always know,” he said.

FOX5’s Trevor Pettiford says the best aspect of being a journalist is the opportunity to help others by telling their stories. (Photo by R.O. Youngblood)

“It was great. My parents were great — they’re like the Huxtables,” he joked. “It was immediate that that didn’t matter to them; they’ve always been supportive of me.”

Now Pettiford’s parents visit often and sometimes call his house just to speak with Pettiford’s partner of four years, John Titter, a hairstylist who even does Mrs. Pettiford’s hair occasionally.

One of the joys of being out is being able to put a picture of his partner on his desk, Pettiford said. The photograph of Titter and Pettiford’s parents acts as a calming device when the reporter is stressed by sources or deadlines, Pettiford said.

“It means to me I’m more comfortable with myself and the people most important to me support me,” he said. “Through whatever trials or tribulations I go through, I know they will be there for me.”

Growing visibility
Pettiford is becoming more visible in Atlanta’s gay scene, delivering a speech to an Aug. 30 luncheon during Black Gay Pride, and preparing to address Georgia Equality at its 2nd annual Political Animal Awards at the Zoo Atlanta on Sept. 17.

At the Black Gay Pride event, Pettiford encouraged attendees to capitalize on free advertising opportunities presented by television news. By volunteering as sources for stories related to their field, small business owners can use television news to gain greater exposure, Pettiford said.

In the midst of covering fires or car wrecks, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a journalist is being able to help others, Pettiford said.

In one of his assignments last week, Pettiford was able to help a woman and her children move from their mold-infested house in Decatur by “lighting a fire” under city housing officials.

“You just feel like there was some purpose to what you do,” he said. “I get the most pleasure out of being able to immediately help someone.”

Most of his viewers don’t know Pettiford’s sexual orientation, but he has little fear of them finding out, he said.

“How people feel about me in this public position is a concern, but that’s who I am,” Pettiford said. “I am a journalist and regardless of my sexual orientation or my political position, I am an impartial journalist. Any of my personal life doesn’t affect how I’m going to cover a story.”