About 250 demonstrators showed up Wednesday outside the Florida offices of Tampa's WFLA Channel 8 demanding an apology from executives for airing an anti-gay video.

The station aired the American Family Association's (AFA) controversial documentary special on the “radical homosexual agenda” titled Speechless: Silencing the Christians over the objections of the LGBT community and on the night of the St. Petersburgh Gay Pride parade.

The protesters chanted “Shame, Shame, Channel 8. Make your money and spread your hate!” and held signs that read “News Channel H8.”

Broadcasters in several markets have backed off airing the program after loud protests from gay and lesbian rights groups, including WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and WSXY 6.2 in Columbus, Ohio.

AFA marketing materials say the program will “reveal the truth about the radical homosexual agenda and its impact on the family, the nation and religious freedom.”

In a blog post, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a gay rights group, said that the special was “designed to perpetuate a climate of hostility towards our community and to create a culture where we are less safe, less secure, and where our families are put in harm's way.”

“Make no mistake,” Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights advocate, said in a statement. “This is the opening salvo in a campaign designed to denigrate LGBT Americans and deny us our basic rights.”

“Just as our community is at a point where measures protecting millions of American heads to Congress and a willing president, the AFA unleashes 60 minutes of lies and distortions to scare voters. The AFA and its allies have never been 'speechless' when it comes to promoting their own agenda, and that's driving a wedge in the very places where LGBT Americans work, live and even pray.”

The program, an edited down version of a 14-episode series that initially aired on the INSP Network, is hosted by conservative talk show host Janet Parshall.

In the documentary, the AFA asserts that proposed federal hate crime legislation would outlaw religious speech, that employment protection laws force churches to hire gays and lesbians, that gay men and women are largely responsible for HIV/AIDS and all STDs, and that gay marriage hurts the family because it deprives children of a mother or a father.

“This video outrageously promotes spiritual violence against LGBT people,” said Harry Knox, director of the Human Rights Campaign's Religion & Faith Program. “Despite what the AFA claims, a growing number of mainstream denominations have endorsed hate crime legislation, including the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and the Episcopal Church USA.”

The special has aired in several other smaller markets such as Traverse City, Michigan (WPBN – NBC), Toledo, Ohio (WUPW – FOX), Charlotte, North Carolina (WJZY – The CW), and Greenville, South Carolina (WSPA – CBS).

The Greenville station manager issued an apology after the program aired, angering the AFA.

The Tampa protest was organized by Equality Florida, a group that lobbies for gay rights in the state. R. Zeke Fread, a spokesman for the event and the director of Pride Tampa Bay, estimated 250 people showed up to protest the station's actions.

The protesters say Channel 8 executives gave their concerns little attention, adding that WFLA General Manager John Scheuler told them that he did not believe the special was hateful but those who “chose the homosexual lifestyle might be upset by the [program's] strident tone.”

“This is not an infomercial,” Fread told myfoxtampabay.com. “They aren't trying to sell anything. They are trying to convince people that we want special rights. Equal rights are only special rights to people when they are denied them.”

Scheuler responded to the protest in a statement: “Our overriding mission is to provide platforms for the broadest points of view and be responsible to the community we serve. We understand that doing so can cause strong disagreement. We screened this program and ran a disclaimer before and after it ran noting that this does not reflect the views of WFLA.”

Internet commenters on the protest were more inclined to agree with Scheuler than the protesters by a large margin.

“Who's intolerant now?” asked Honey from Clearwater at tampabay.com. “Just swish on back home.”

“Quit trying to Taliban the Bible!” Michael from Valrico added.