LGBTQ Advisory Board Minutes - 9-10-19
LGBTQ Advisory Committee
Committee Chair, Robin Schwartz
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Members in attendance – Aaron Bos-Lun, Cindy Brown,
Gayle Durham, Craig Garmendia, Jamie Guirola, George
Neary, Alexander Palenzuela (phone), Herb Sosa,
Elizabeth Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Paul Thomas, Roger
Thomson, Riki Wilchins, Mark Wylie (phone)
Others in attendance: Dan Rios (GMCVB)
Called to order at 1:00 p.m.
Ongoing Business:
A. Approval of the July 9, 2019 minutes- motion: Elizabeth, second: Herb
B. MBPD Updates – None
C. GMCVB / social media updates – Dan Rios provided some updates: GMCVB is
preparing first exclusive LGBTQ photo shoot to begin in November and aims for a
more diverse representation of the LGBTQ community including Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer talent. GMCVB will launch the first Miami Begins
With Me LGBTQ Diversity and Inclusion Training on October 26th at Town of Surfside.
The Training works towards empowering Miami’s tourism industry with personalized
ways to engage with LGBTQ customers.
New Business:
George spoke about the event that will take place on September 23 rd to honor Michael
Aller as Mr. Miami Beach; Bay Oates will be there from 2-5 p.m. and Mayor Gelber at
3:30 p.m.
Robin brought up the MDC Advisory Committee and spoke about that the Committee
should come up with ideas to get the City to give funds to the LGBTQ community and
about coming up with ways to partner with the community to get funds. The Committee
decided to create a subcommittee to focus on LGBTQ Municipal Funding that will
include Robin, Aaron, Paul and Gayle.
Subcommittees Reports and Next Actions:
1) HRC Rating (Cindy, Liz, Aaron, Herb)- Cindy spoke and said everything was submitted
in July. There is a holding pattern for the decision, but it is known that we have over
100 points.
Committee Members
Aaron Bos-Lun
Alexander Palenzuela
Cindy Brown
Craig Garmendia
Daniel Diaz
Elizabeth Schwartz
Gayle Durham
George Neary
Herb Sosa
Jamie Guirola
Mark Wylie
Paul Thomas
Riki Wilchins
Roger Thomson
2) LGBTQ Visibility/Marketing/ Tourism (Gayle, George, Mark, Jamie, Paul, Danny)- The
Committee will reassess the need for this subcommittee.
3) Health and Wellness (Ricki, Jamie, Craig, Paul)- discussion the PREP clinic was held.
4) Senior Housing (Cindy, Robin, George, Roger, Alex)- none.
Meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m.