By John Pacenti
Emotions ran high at the April 8 Delray Beach City Commission meeting when a motion to strip $15,000 in funding from the Pride festival, which celebrates the LGBTQ community, was on the agenda.
Commissioner Juli Casale said she feared Gov. Ron DeSantis would eliminate state funding for the city if it continued to fund the June 14 Pride Festival & Concert.
Casale tried to remove the item from consideration at the start of the meeting, saying she wanted to explore if City Manager Terrence Moore could find private funding or if there were other options, such as just funding the concert.
Vice Mayor Rob Long wouldn’t let Casale remove the item, demanding a discussion. He said Moore put the item on the agenda after hearing a rumor about an attempt to lobby staff to cancel the event “without due process.”
“I got to be honest, I’m not comfortable with choosing which events we do based on what’s most politically expedient,” Long said. “I’m actually very disappointed that we’re even having this conversation.”
Casale said she helped bring the Pride event to the city and supports the LGBTQ community. She said she spoke to Delray Beach’s lobbyist, Mathew Forrest, who “expressed concerns.”
Forrest works for lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which has close ties to President Donald Trump and DeSantis — both of whom have supported policies and laws that have targeted the LGBTQ community.
Moore said at the April 8 meeting that he spoke with Forrest and that the lobbyist said “nothing terribly specific other than general observations, somewhat editorial.”
Forrest sent Moore an email the next day, saying Tallahassee would likely “not support organizations that it feels are using government funds to support programs, events, etc., that are inconsistent with policies of the State of Florida.”
Forrest cited a Feb. 24 executive order signed by DeSantis that created Florida’s version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency to report “unnecessary spending within county and municipal governments.”
Under such a policy, a municipality’s autonomy to sponsor events it deemed beneficial to its citizens would be subject to review by the hard-right DeSantis administration.
Casale said she was worried that DeSantis would cancel funding for projects in Delray Beach out of spite because the city financially supported the Pride festival.
DeSantis was behind the Parental Rights in Education Act, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that prohibited teachers from talking about LGBTQ subjects. When Walt Disney Co. opposed the law, DeSantis revoked its self-governing status.
Casale said she wanted to hear from Forrest how much funding could be at risk of DeSantis’ veto pen.
What was not discussed at the April 8 meeting, however, was the significance of LGBTQ tourism to Florida’s economy. While no estimates were available for Palm Beach County,
Orlando alone says 6% of its total domestic visitors annually are LGBTQ and contribute more than $3.1 billion in direct visitor spending, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Long was asked if a boycott of Delray Beach because it pulled funding for its Pride festival would have a significant impact on businesses.
“Absolutely. I think the boycott would extend beyond just LGBTQ individuals,” he said. “I think there would be tangible implications to our business economy if we made that decision.”
Delray Beach resident Judy Mollica told the commission during the public comment portion of the April 8 meeting that she opposed any measure to pull financial support from the Pride festival, saying it would be a step backward to silence the LGBTQ community.
“It’s telling and deeply concerning that only one has been singled out. It feels less like a logistical decision and more like someone chose the easy target,” she said. “Pride isn’t just a celebration. It’s a statement of inclusion, acceptance and visibility.”
Mayor Tom Carney said he wanted to take a look at all city-sponsored events. Moore said that the events policy and city money allocated could be reviewed during the process to approve the fiscal year 2026 budget that starts in October.
Long, however, was steadfast in his views. “LGBTQ communities are under increasing attack,” he said. “It sends the wrong message for Delray Beach to even consider or even talk about pulling our modest support for an event that celebrates inclusion, pride and community spirit.”
Commissioner Angela Burns agreed, saying the issue goes beyond just the LGBTQ community. “We have created a tradition here in Delray Beach, and I don’t think that we should be retreating from those principles right now,” she said. “It reinforces a message of belonging and safety for all of our communities.”
Commissioner Tom Markert, though, said he wanted to hear from Forrest, the city’s lobbyist.
“We have an obligation, sitting up here as elected officials, to investigate data, and we had some data brought to us by a lobbyist,” he said.
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