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Coral Gables residents urge legal review to protect LGBTQ and DEI programming after new state law
Summary
Dozens of public commenters, including SAVE, civic leaders and residents, urged the Coral Gables commission to direct staff and the city attorney to review the city’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) programs and contracts after passage of state preemption legislation (SB 1134) they say could limit local DEI efforts.
Several dozen residents and advocates pressed the Coral Gables commission to act after recent state legislation that limits local governments' ability to fund or promote certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Save‑Dade and local speakers emphasized the city’s 92/100 Municipal Equality Index score and asked staff and counsel to identify what programs, contracts or advisory practices might be affected and to propose steps that could preserve local protections and services. "Our ask is simple," Miles Davis of SAVE told the commission. "We're asking the commission to direct city staff and legal counsel to review the MEI scorecard along the new state law and identify what may be impacted, what can be preserved, and most importantly, what steps the city can take now to protect local decision making." (transcript)
Mayor Lago responded that city staff, the city attorney and the manager would review the MEI scorecard and prepare a memo about preemption and options to protect local programs, adding that the city would seek ways to use contracts, funding agreements and partnerships to preserve services where legally possible. "I will review the MEI report card... and I will draft a memo, with the help of my city attorney and director of legislative affairs, to make sure that we can address these issues," the mayor said on the record.
Director of Government Affairs Chelsea Grinnell told the commission staff had already begun internal work on the issue and invited community partners to participate in discussions to identify legal, contractual and programmatic preservation strategies.
What's next: Commissioners asked the city attorney and staff to prepare a memo explaining the potential impacts of state preemption on the city’s MEI‑related programs, to identify legally available protections (long‑term contracts, partnerships, joint litigation), and to report back to the commission with concrete options before the state law takes effect.
Attribution: Quotes and attributions are drawn directly from the meeting transcript; speakers include representatives of SAVE (Miles Davis), science and health researchers, and Mayor Lago and staff.
