Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Delray Beach’s decision to cancel its 2027 St. Patrick’s Day parade and Pride festival is “not mandated by Florida law,” accusing the city of “malicious compliance.”
The city announced Tuesday that it would not host either event next year, pointing to its own review of Senate Bill 1134, the measure restricting local government spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion that DeSantis signed in April and that takes effect Jan. 1.
The governor made the charge in a post on X. His office later sent the same post to NBC News, which had asked whether Delray Beach officials misread the statute.
“What they are doing is not mandated by Florida law. It’s just an attempt to make a political point — a point that legacy media will no doubt try to amplify. We’ve seen these stunts throughout the years. Rinse and repeat,” DeSantis wrote.
Delray Beach claimed in a notice posted to its parade website that it is “legally prohibited from organizing, funding, or promoting these events in 2027.” The city also posted that the law does not stop private entities from sponsoring the events themselves.
The statute bars counties and municipalities from funding or promoting DEI activities, directly or indirectly, and from taking official action related to them. It leaves content-neutral event permitting, public safety services, and the recognition of certain state and federal holidays untouched. A resident may sue a city in circuit court over a violation, and a local official who breaks the prohibitions commits misfeasance or malfeasance in office.
Mayor Tom Carney, a Republican of Irish descent, wrote on Facebook that the city is “working feverishly with multiple entities” to keep the parade on schedule. The mayor is courting private sponsors and an outside organizer. Potential sponsors had expressed interest by this week without committing, and he said he would support a privately funded Pride event.
The two-term Republican has moved against DEI programs in the state for years. He signed Senate Bill 266 in 2023, cutting off state and federal funding for the programs at Florida colleges and universities, and said then that they had become a “veneer to impose an ideological agenda.”
State Sen. Clay Yarborough (R) sponsored the local-government version. It cleared the Senate 25-11 and the House 77-37.
Democrats retook both chambers of Congress this month. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) declared afterward that “DEI is back.”
