At the February 22, 2023 Commission meeting, item C7H to provide a grant in the amount of $75,000 to the Save Foundation, Inc., a non-for-profit corporation of the State of Florida, for the development and implementation of a social media campaign for LGBTQ youth impacted by the "parental rights in education" Bill, widely known as the "Don't Say Gay" Bill was referred to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee for discussion. At the March 31, 2023, Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee meeting the Resolution was approved unanimously and included two additional years of funding for $25,000 per year.

SAVE Foundation is recognized as South Florida’s longest serving organization dedicated to protecting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) against discrimination.

Since 1993, SAVE has advocated for equal rights for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities. SAVE accomplishes this through grassroots action focused on:

• Community Outreach – changing hearts and minds by educating the people of South Florida about LGBTQ issues.

• Public Education - raising awareness about rights and protections for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

• Government Affairs - educating thought leaders and policies makers about the rights and protections for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

SAVE Foundation’s mission is to promote, protect and defend equality for people in South Florida who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.

Through collective efforts, SAVE fought back against an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ policies including the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, censorship by School Boards, and the Florida Medical Board’s ban on trans healthcare in 2022:

• 74 volunteer phonebank shifts.

• Protesting in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orlando, and Tallahassee.

• Lobbying key elected officials for their support.

• Providing buses for community members to attend rallies throughout the state.

• Making sure the community is heard by testifying during public comments.

SAVE continues to work to ensure cities in South Florida are welcoming and inclusive for the LGBTQ community through serving on the Miami Beach, City of Miami, and Miami-Dade LGBTQ Advisory Boards, and guide local leaders to improve local policies.

Funding

Funding for this initiative is not part of the FY 2023 budget.

There have been a number of priority initiatives identified by the Commission and staff that will have significant funding impacts. As the City develops the FY 2024 budget, the full fiscal impact of the recently approved collective bargaining agreements will also need to be absorbed.

In 2022, the state of Florida enacted the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, widely known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill aimed to prohibit school districts from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity. Specifically, the Bill bans "classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade, and to prohibit such teaching "in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students," which could be interpreted to extend to all grade levels.

 The City of Miami Beach is a diverse and inclusive community and has demonstrated a long history of opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories.

The SAVE Foundation has provided a scope of work which includes the planning and development of an ad campaign that will run from August 2023 through November 2023. The scope provided includes deliverables including an overall media strategy for launch and ongoing campaign, audience targeting strategies, and key performance indicators/benchmarks.  The budget provided includes funding for website hosting ($200), media/advertising ($53,780) and project management ($21,000). The campaign entitled Miami Beach Cares (www.miamibeachcares.lgbt) would be distributed through social media, digital banners, and the city trolley with the goal of getting interested persons to websites with information and resources for parents and youth who are dealing with issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The resources that will be included on the website will address topics of mental health and suicide prevention, faith and religion, homelessness and housing, youth programs available through local organizations, bullying, and family acceptance to name a few.  Local leaders will support the development of the resources that are best suited for Miami Beach.   

FY 2023:  $75,000

FY 2024:  $25,000

FY 2025:  $25,000

Since this initiative is not budgeted as part of the FY 2023, the Administration prepared a budget amendment for Commission for approval at the April 28, 2023 Commission meeting.

A  grant in the amount of $75,000 for the first year and $25,000 for two additional years to Save Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation of the State of Florida, and South Florida's leading organization dedicated to protect LGBTQ community against discrimination, will be used for development and implementation of a social media campaign for LGBTQ youth impacted by the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, subject to SAVE submitting a report by November 1, 2023, documenting the objectives achieved with the grant funding and compliance with all other terms of City's standard grant agreement. Additional annual funding of up to $25,000 may be considered during the annual budget process as well for up to two additional years.  

The social media campaign will strive to encourage positive dialogue about and promote acceptance of LGBTQ identities as well as provide information on resources available to LGBTQ youth and their families.