Editorial: Florida's anti-DEI law takes aim at St. Patrick's Day parade. What's next?

The Miami Herald Editorial Board, The Miami Herald on Nov 13, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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When lawmakers passed a state law last year that bans local government from funding and promoting DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives, Gov. Ron DeSantis was quick to crow that the measure was on-brand for Florida, the state “where woke goes to die.”

It may be time for the governor to rewrite that line. Thanks to him and the law he championed, Florida is now becoming known as the place where St. Patty’s Day parades go to die.

It sounds ridiculous but it’s true. The city of Delray Beach announced this week that it had to cancel two events next year — the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and a Pride event — because they don’t comply with the anti-DEI law. The city “has determined that it is legally prohibited from organizing, funding, or promoting these events in 2027,“ according to a statement on the Delray Beach website.

An enormous outcry followed. Residents and business owners are angry. The mayor is now saying he is “working feverishly” with multiple organizations to find outside funding from private interests to pay for the parade. This parade was so important, he said, it was “engrained in the DNA of the Delray Beach community.”

Maybe the parade will go on next March 17. We hope it does. It’s a local tradition. But that won’t solve the bigger problem. Florida Democrats, when the law was initially being proposed, called it too vague and punitive. They were right. We are just beginning to see the impact this overly broad law will have on many community events that celebrate different parts of South Florida.

Senate Bill 1134, the law in question, is far-reaching. It prohibits local governments from passing DEI initiatives or continuing any DEI initiatives already in existence. The restrictions apply to programming and activities referencing ethnicity — in the St. Patrick Day’s case, Irish identity, presumably — along with sexual orientation or gender identity.

The law does not apply to events staged on federal holidays celebrating or promoting ethnic diversity, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Juneteenth. But it does give the governor the power to remove local officials who violate the law.

That last part is no doubt scaring a lot of local governments out of sponsoring or contributing to community events out of an abundance of caution. For Delray Beach to cancel this parade, which has been around since the 1960s and is beloved by locals, speaks volumes about how deep the impacts of this law will go. Fort Lauderdale plans to continue its St. Patrick’s Day parade next year, but the city is expecting to cancel other events because of the new state law, the Sun Sentinel reported.

What we’re seeing now is the sad and ugly outcome of a policy of exclusion and division. The DeSantis administration pushed the culture wars for years, as the governor tried to make a name for himself on the national stage. He is responsible for the drive to root out “woke” in Florida that has become the excuse for all sorts of intolerant behavior, from banning books to telling universities what they can teach. We had the Stop WOKE Act and the “Don’t say gay” law. We sandblasted rainbow-painted intersections or paved over them.

And now we have St. Patrick’s Day parades on the chopping block. It won’t stop there.

In Miami-Dade, impacts of this law could be far-reaching. It will no doubt affect the boards for Asian Americans, Black Affairs, LGBTQIA+ and the Commission on Women. One member of the Hispanic Affairs board wrote in an opinion piece published in the Miami Herald this week, lamenting that her organization probably has held its last meeting.

Gladys Mezrahi wrote that serving on the board for the last two years has “reminded me that leadership is not about agreeing on everything. It is about finding common ground and working together, even when our views and opinions are different.”

That’s the opposite of what the DeSantis administration has been peddling.

When the anti-DEI law was under consideration in Tallahassee, the entire Miami Beach City Commission was so alarmed it sent a letter of concern to the governor and leaders. Commissioners warned that the law could interfere with all sorts of programs and activities and could be seen “as prohibiting the most basic and routine actions of local governments.”

Now we’re seeing the law in action, and it’s not pretty. But we can’t say we weren’t warned.

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