LGBTQ Advisory Board Minutes - 1-12-2021
LGBTQ Advisory Committee
Committee Chair, Robin Schwartz
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Members in attendance – Craig Garmendia, Danny Diaz,
Edward Kring, Gayle Durham, Herb Sosa, Mark Wylie,
Michael Bath, Paul Thomas, Riki Wilchins, Robin Schwartz,
Sunny Weber
Others in attendance- Dan Rios, GMCVB
Called to order at 1:02 p.m.
Ongoing Business:
A. Approval of the November 10th and November 25th meeting minutes- motion: Riki,
second: Michael. All in favor.
B. MBPD Updates – Discussion was held if anyone has an issue that is related to LGBTQ
community, they can contact Office Valdes and email is the best way to contact him.
Morgan shared his email with the Committee. Discussion was held about LGBTQ
tourists not feeling safe and Manny suggested they can go to the police department
because it is a safe space and they can guide them. The Committee discussed the
statement that was brought up in the past about the City showing there is a no
tolerance policy for discrimination, and they believe it needs to be a citywide effort.
C. GMCVB / Marketing updates – Dan Rios provided some updates. He said the visitors
need to know they have the City of Miami Beach as an ally. He mentioned there is a
slogan on trash cans that say to keep Miami Beach Clean and he thinks there can be a
similar campaign done regarding discrimination. He spoke about the Miami land
campaign and that it will be put on hold right now due to the COVID-19 numbers rising.
New Business:
A. Discuss to prohibit Chick-Fil-A Fast Food Chain Restaurant on Alton Road- defer to the
February meeting.
B. Discuss Marriage Equality Month proposal- Sunny summarized the proposal and
Morgan also sent out the document which provided all of the details and that will be
developed into the LTC. Motion made by Sunny and seconded by Herb. All in favor,
except Gayle who was not present at this time.
C. Continue discussion on Subcommittees/members- Subcommittee members were
confirmed as to which subcommittee they would like to be on. Leads were chosen to
schedule future meetings.
D. Discussion was held on Jamie still wanting to remain on the Committee and that he
was not reappointed because he did not meet the criteria.
E. Discussion was held on how there used to be pride flags on the lifeguard stands in
Lummus Park and they are no longer there. Morgan will find out what happened to the
pride flags.
Committee Members
Cindy Brown
Craig Garmendia
Daniel Diaz
Edward Kring
Gayle Durham
Herb Sosa
Mark Wylie
Michael Bath
Paul Thomas
Riki Wilchins
Sunny Weber
F. Discussion was held on how the Committee would like the Commission to go to
Committee for their opinion and advice on LGBTQ issues. The new LGBTQ rainbow
flag event was discussed, and the Committee was upset that they didn’t find out until
the day before. Robin moved to recommend that the Commission creates a protocol
that any issues related to the LGBTQ Community be referred to the Committee for
discussion prior to making any decisions that affect the LGBTQ Community. In
addition, the Committee requests they be notified of all LGBTQ related events in a
timely manner. Herb seconded it. All in favor except Mark who had to leave the
meeting early.
Subcommittees Reports and Next Actions
1) HRC Rating (Cindy, Paul, Eddie)
2) LGBTQ Visibility/Marketing/Tourism (Eddie, Gayle, Mark, Sunny, Danny, Herb,
Michael)
3) Health and Wellness (Craig, Riki, Paul)
4) Advocacy Subcommittee (Paul, Robin, Sunny, Eddie, Cindy)
Meeting adjourned at 1:56 p.m.