Florida Allocated $2.5M for Trump’s Airport Rebrand While Denying $308K to an LGBTQ Center
Florida committed $2.5 million in state funds to rename Palm Beach International Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport. Fourteen minutes away, Compass Community Center, one of the state’s oldest LGBTQ+ centers, was denied a $308,000 grant to fix a broken air conditioning system.
$2.5M vs. $308K Florida’s share of the airport renaming. The LGBTQ center’s full grant request.
The airport rebrand is half of a projected $5 million cost, according to the Palm Beach Post, with Florida covering the rest. The Trump-branded merchandise now installed at the airport is included in that rollout.
The Grant Was Denied One Day After DeSantis Signed an Anti-DEI Law
Compass Community Center did not apply for the grant directly. The city of Lake Worth Beach submitted the request for general building maintenance, with no mention of LGBTQ+ programming. It was denied anyway.
The rejection came on April 25, 2026, one day after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1134, an anti-DEI bill. The bill is not scheduled to take effect until next year, but its passage appears to have shaped the grant review.
“It shouldn’t matter who our tenant is in a building. It’s a city-owned building. And the fact that this deep dive was done into who was in the building. I’m a little appalled, but not shocked, unfortunately.”
Fort Lake Worth City Commissioner, Palm Beach Post, April 2026
The denied funds would also have covered an elevator upgrade, a separate safety concern the center flagged in its application.
The Center Is Sweating Through Florida’s Hottest Summer on Record
Palm Beach County ranks among Florida’s hottest counties by humidity index. The center is now operating without functional air conditioning during a summer the National Weather Service has described as hotter than average for the region.
Compass Community Center has formally demanded a written, legal explanation for the denial. No explanation has been provided as of July 10, 2026.
The contrast is not incidental. Florida’s state budget decisions, including DeSantis’s veto authority over line items, have repeatedly cut LGBTQ-specific services since 2021, while infrastructure spending tied to Trump-branded projects has moved without delay.
What You Can Do Now
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Call Gov. DeSantis’s office at (850) 717-9337 and demand a written legal justification for the denial of Compass Community Center’s grant under SB 1134. Ask specifically whether any other city-submitted building maintenance grants were reviewed for tenant identity.
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Contact the Florida Legislative Black Caucus and LGBTQ+ Caucus members through the Florida House directory and urge them to request a Government Accountability Office review of how anti-DEI criteria are being applied to city-submitted, identity-neutral grant applications.
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Support Compass Community Center directly at compassglcc.com. The center is accepting donations specifically for HVAC repair while its grant appeal is pending.
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Contact your Florida state senator through the Florida Senate directory and ask them to oppose any budget language that allows SB 1134 criteria to be applied to city-submitted infrastructure grants before the bill’s effective date.
Sources
Queerty: Florida Spends $2.5M on Trump Airport Rename While Denying LGBTQ Center AC Grant ACLU: Florida LGBTQ Rights Legislative Tracker 2025-2026 Florida Senate: SB 1134 Anti-DEI Legislation Text and History Compass GLCC: Compass Community Center Fort Lauderdale Homepage National Weather Service: South Florida Summer 2026 Heat Advisories
[Quote: “It shouldn’t matter who our tenant is in a building. And the fact that this deep dive was done into who was in the building.
I’m a little appalled, but not shocked, unfortunately.”, Fort Lake Worth City Commissioner. Palm Beach Post, April 2026]