March 13, 2025
As you know, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) is Florida’s oldest, independent, non-partisan, political organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. We promote equality through education, advocacy, direct action, impact litigation and community outreach.
For the foreseeable future, the LGBTQ+ community nationwide will continue to face greater challenges at the federal and state levels than we have in decades. Elections have consequences, and our community is being targeted.
Fortunately, over the years, PBCHRC has secured exceptional countywide and municipal victories which assure LGBTQ+ individuals and families in Palm Beach County are entitled to equal rights, privileges, benefits and protections.
However, as we have seen with the federal court decisions overturning the bans on conversion therapy for minors and eliminating federal abortion rights, nothing we have accomplished is set in stone.
PBCHRC will continue to work diligently to maintain our local LGBTQ+ rights and to help secure our community's rightful place in Florida and across the nation.
PBCHRC VOTERS ALLIANCE
Throughout the years, Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance (PBCHRCVA) volunteers have worked to identify more LGBTQ+ and allied residents and get them registered to vote. We have also worked on early voting, vote-by-mail and get-out-the-vote campaigns. Thanks to your votes, the following PBCHRCVA-endorsed candidates were elected or re-elected on March 11:
- Lake Park Town Commissioners Michael Hensley and Judith Thomas
- Palm Beach Gardens City Council Member Marcie Tinsley
- Riviera Beach City Council Member Shirley Lanier
- Royal Palm Beach Village Council Member Sylvia Sharps
Congratulations to all!
For a list of more than 70 current (or recently elected) officeholders who were endorsed by PBCHRCVA, click here.
U.S. SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW BAN ON CONVERSION THERAPY
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court announced it will hear a First Amendment challenge to a Colorado law banning conversion therapy on minors.
The Court has denied several requests to review cases challenging conversion therapy bans, over the dissents of some conservative justices. Most recently, in 2023, Associate Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas expressed interest in granting review of a case challenging a conversion therapy ban in the State of Washington. However, it takes four justices to grant review.
Unfortunately, one more member of the Court has decided to grant review. Since the Court does not usually reveal how justices vote to grant review, we do not yet know who might have provided the fourth vote.
The case will be argued in the Court’s next term, which begins in October and a ruling is expected in the spring of 2026.
A ruling against Colorado could strike down conversion therapy bans in 24 states, numerous counties and municipalities that currently ban conversion therapy on minors.
However, a ruling in the case in favor of Colorado would restore the rights of government entities in Florida Georgia and Alabama seeking to ban conversion therapy on minors. Those rights were taken away by a federal court in 2022. The ruling would also allow Indiana localities to enact conversion therapy bans, which are prohibited by state law.
Knowing there was no chance of persuading the Florida Legislature to enact a statewide law banning conversion therapy, and inspired by a conversion therapy ban enacted by the City of Miami Beach, in 2016, PBCHRC began a multiyear campaign to ban conversion therapy throughout Palm Beach County.
Miami Beach First Assistant City Attorney Rob Rosenwald, West Palm Beach Assistant City Attorney Zoë Panarites, PBCHRC Board Member Trent Steele, and I drafted a model ordinance to ban conversion therapy.
In 2016, West Palm Beach became the first municipality in Palm Beach County to enact the model ordinance. Over the next eleven months, similar bans were enacted in Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Riviera Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, and Boca Raton. Our local campaign culminated on December 19, 2017, when Palm Beach County enacted the first countywide conversion therapy ban in Florida.
However, Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBTQ hate group, filed suit in federal court on behalf of two therapists seeking to nullify the bans enacted by Palm Beach County and the City of Boca Raton.
In 2019, Judge Robin Rosenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida wrote a brilliant opinion ruling against the conversion therapists. Liberty Counsel appealed the order to the U.S. District Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit and in 2020, a three-judge panel on the Eleventh Circuit ruled 2-1 that the ordinances were unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.
Although the City of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County filed a Petition for the case to be reheard by the full Eleventh Circuit, in 2022 the Eleventh Circuit issued a ruling refusing to rehear the case. As a result, no conversion therapy bans are allowed in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
DELRAY BEACH PRIDE INTERSECTION VANDAL GETS OFF WITH LIGHT SENTENCE
Facing Circuit Court Judge Daliah Weiss in open court on January 8, Dylan Reece Brewer pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors -- criminal mischief and reckless driving -- stemming from his intentional vandalizaton of the Delray Beach LGBTQ+ Pride Intersection last February.
The Delray Beach LGBTQ+ Pride Intersection, a permanent art installation in the City's Pineapple Grove Arts District, was dedicated at a public LGBTQ+ Pride festival in 2021. The street mural consists of eleven painted stripes representing the colors of the LGBTQ+ Progress Pride Flag.
The light sentence was based on a sweetheart plea deal offered by former State Attorney Dave Aronberg.
PBCHRC filed a Victim Impact Statement requesting the Court to reject the plea deal. Although Judge Weiss reviewed the Victim Impact Statement and entered it into the Court records, she approved the deal offered by Aronberg.
On February 4, 2024, Brewer drove his pickup truck through the Pride Intersection three separate times within a ten minute span, each time slamming on the brakes, defacing the Pride Intersection with "burnouts" - three sets of thick rubber skid marks.
The sentence imposed by Judge Weiss requires Brewer to (1) reimburse the City of Delray Beach $5,698.71 -- the amount paid to restore the Pride Intersection, (2) pay up to $2,000 in fines, as well as court and prosecution costs, (3) perform 150 hours of community service, (4) attend an 8 hour anger management course, and (5) be placed on probation for 24 months with no ability to see a reduction in time. In addition, Brewer's driver's license was revoked for one year.
Shortly after Brewer was arrested last year, PBCHRC asked Aronberg to charge Brewer with a hate crime against the LGBTQ+ community. However, in keeping with his pattern of leniency in hate crimes prosecutions, Aronberg refused to do so.
While Brewer had been initially charged with a felony count of criminal mischief in excess of $1,000 and the City of Delray Beach paid $5,618.71 to restore the Pride Intersection, under Aronberg's plea deal, Brewer was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser included misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief ($200-$1000).
With all of the video and documentary evidence, any first-year lawyer could have convinced a judge and jury that the damages Brewer caused exceeded $1,000, PBCHRC could not fathom why Aronberg cut such a sweet deal for Brewer. Fortunately, Aronberg is no longer in public office.
Brewer's light sentence will do little to deter other anti-LGBTQ+ hatemongers from attacking our community in the future.
Meanwhile, Brewer moved to Alabama to attend the University of Alabama. His social media accounts reportedly show a photo of his smug appearance in Court, along with several posts of him ironically trying to portray himself as a "good ole boy".
To add insult to injury, the "GiveSendGo" defense fund has raised more than $37,000 to reward him for his criminal activity. ( "GiveSendGo" is a Christian crowdfunding website that assists white supremacist activists and hate groups seeking to raise funds.)
Clearly, thanks to Dave Aronberg, justice has not been served for Palm Beach County's LGBTQ+ community.
PALM BEACH COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM PRIDE EXPO
The Palm Beach County Library System will hold the First Annual Pride Expo on Saturday, May 17th, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Hagen Ranch Road Branch Library.
The event is a one stop resource shop for South Florida LGBTQ+ programming, services, and support. Expo attendees will engage with library staff and representatives from government agencies, schools, legal aid, social organizations and more!
PBCHRC CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Charitable Foundation is accepting applications for the 2025 PBCHRC Social Justice Awards – $2,500 college scholarships available to graduating LGBTQ+ and allied high school seniors from Palm Beach County.
Each year our Charitable Foundation awards these scholarship to local college-bound high school seniors who have demonstrated an interest in advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.
To review the biographies of the 24 Social Justice Award recipients and to learn more about the PBCHRC Charitable Foundation, click here.
To learn more about PBCHRC's Social Justice Award, click here.
For further information, contact Jasmin Lewis at jasminklewis@gmail.com
For an application form, click here
Applications are due no later than 11:59 p.m. on April 4, 2025
The PBCHRC Charitable Foundation also provides need-based scholarships to LGBTQ+ college students through the Norman L. Stern and August R. Venezio Scholarships.
In addition, the Charitable Foundation has established the W. Trent Steele Legal Advocacy Award in recognition of Trent’s decades of pro bono work on behalf of PBCHRC as well as his work as a PBCHRC Board Member. The scholarship is available to LGBTQ+ and allied second and third year law students with ties to Palm Beach County. Please contact PBCHRC@gmail.com for further information,
PBCHRC Charitable Foundation is offering scholarships to law students from Palm Beach County who are interested in attending the 2025 Lavender Law® Conference and Career Fair in New York City July 28-30, 2025 and who need help with tuition and travel expenses, the PBCHRC Charitable Foundation may be able to assist. To apply, please send an email to pbchrc@gmail.com.
Over the past year, PBCHRC and the Charitable Foundation have made significant contributions to:
- 451 Avengers, a local activist organization challenging library book bans in Palm Beach County,
- ACLU of Florida Foundation, which works to create a Florida free of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,
- Compass, our county's LGBTQ+ community center,
- First Amendment Foundation, which watched over a legislative program to review, and reenact if warranted, each of the hundreds of exemptions to Florida's public records law,
- Lambda Legal, a national legal organization representing LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV in court – and in the court of public opinion,
- MAP (the Movement Advancement Project), a nonprofit think tank working to create a thriving, inclusive, and equitable America where all people have a fair chance to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, take care of the ones they love, be safe in their communities, and participate in civic life,
- Night Runners, a local non-profit organization that hosts weekly meetups for the LGBTQ+ and allied runners and walkers,
- PRISM, which works to expand access to LGBTQ+-inclusive education and sexual health resources for youth in South Florida,
- Stonewall National Museum & Archives, which presents exhibitions on LGBTQ+ themes and public programs in South Florida and across the United States,
- Transpire, which provides the resources necessary for LGBTQ+ individuals to create a solid foundation for a healthy and fulfilling life, and,
- Vita Nova, which is a safe bridge to independence for former foster care, LGBTQ+ and other unhoused local youth through supportive housing, education, employment and life.
SAFE PLACE INITIATIVE
Last year, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has received a $175,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to Implement a Safe Place Initiative in Palm Beach County.
Through the program, local businesses will be asked to post SAFE PLACE 4" x 6" decals by the front doors, easily visible to the public. The decals are designed to encourage any victim of a hate crime or harassment to enter an establishment that has a decal, knowing that someone at the business will promptly call 911 on their behalf and the victim can remain safely in the establishment until PBSO arrives.
Since its beginning in Seattle in 2015, the Safe Place Initiative has helped break the victim mentality, and says to any victim: You will be heard, you will be treated with care, dignity and respect from the business you enter to find help, as well as from the Deputy Sheriffs who respond to investigate.
PBSO plans to kick off the initiative at Palm Beach Pride later this month.
Kudos to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his team of LGBTQ+ liaisons.
TAILGATE WITH PBCHRC AT GAY POLO
Please stop by PBCHRC's Tailgate on Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. for cocktails and light bites at the International Gay Polo League Tournament. This fabulous annual event will be held at the Patagones Polo Club, 4659 120th Avenue South in Wellington.
Last year, the International Gay Polo League raised $100,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which again will be the beneficiary of event.
To purchase tickets and parking passes for the tournament, click here.
IN OTHER NEWS
- Outgoing Boynton Beach Mayor Ty Penserga and community activist Bradley Jackson were elected to PBCHRC's Board of Directors.
- PBCHRC Board Member Joseph Garcia now serves as a mentor for the Compass Youth Program.
CURRENT INITIATIVES
PBCHRC continues to work on persuading:
- The School District of Palm Beach County to cease doing business with Chick-fil-A and other companies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and other minorities, and
- The courts, prosecutors, and public defenders to utilize the appropriate pronouns when addressing trans people with business before the courts.
For more than three decades, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has worked diligently on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community. With your support, we will continue to do so in the years to come. As always, we will keep you posted on our progress.
Judge Rand Hoch (retired),
President and Founder
