See if you can create a symbolic link on those 2 directories

I tried on a test site to link public_html to cgi-bin/public using "ln -s /public-html /public-html/cgi-bin/public", which seemed to successfully make a link (displayed no errors), however the html site doesn't seem to display typing domain.com, while it does typing domain.com/cgi-bin/public.

Did I get the link the wrong way around?

Try with the .htacess changes if you can. Take a look here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1139349/how-to-remove-part-of-a-url-using-htaccess

Ok, I figure it might be possible by changing the "paths.php" file in the bootstrap directory (need to test it), however this brings up my next question.

Would it be secure for me to store Laravel in the cgi-bin?

EDIT: Yes, on xampp I got it to work from a cgi-bin folder pointing to the root by editing both the paths.php file and the index.php file from the public folder (the contents of which I moved to the site's root).

Just a note to anyone else trying this, to regain the security lost by using the cgi-bin to hold the application, you should look into setting up a "host restricted directory". The files will still be accessible to your server, but not directly to anyone else (including you unless you allow yourself lol).

Also, you will need to add:

RewriteBase /

To your .htaccess file.