Florida anti-DEI law backfires as town confirms it’s now ‘legally prohibited’ from hosting St Patrick’s Day parade: ‘How do we fight this?’

The city of Delray Beach, Florida, is in uproar after the officials confirmed the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade cannot take place in 2027. The event, which has reportedly been a fixture of the local calendar for almost six decades, has fallen afoul of Ron DeSantis’ anti-DEI bill, SB 1134.

Per the parade’s official site, officials confirmed, “The City of Delray Beach will not host its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade or Pride event in 2027 following the enactment of Florida Senate Bill 1134 (CS/CS/SB 1134), relating to official actions of local governments.” This situation appears to be a result of the bill’s wording casting a wider net than was intended, particularly when it comes to restrictions on events by “ethnicity.”

The city explained that the bill “establishes restrictions on municipal funding, promotion, and official actions involving activities defined under the legislation as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These restrictions include certain programming and activities designed or implemented with reference to ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” Apparently, according to their legal advice, this prohibits an official celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to put down the Guinness

Delray Beach is in Palm Beach County, where DeSantis won a narrow victory in the 2022 gubernatorial race, flipping it Republican for the first time in decades. But it sounds like residents weren’t expecting the anti-DEI laws to spoil their St. Patrick’s Day party.

The decision was also announced on Delray Beach’s Facebook page, where residents reacted to the news with a mixture of anger and “we told you so”. One, Michelle Elizabeth, said she’s “pissed” and added, “the st paddy’s parade is one of the biggest events in Delray and brings thousands of people and is one of the funnest days of the year and has been going on for decades! How do we fight this?”

Tina Thompson agreed, saying: “This event is an institution in our city! It brings an enormous amount of money to downtown businesses. We absolutely cannot take this lying down.”

Andi Graham went on to describe SB 1134 as “an absolutely insane law that will have so many unintended consequences.” Kaden Pekarovich added, “What’s wild about how upset people are is that usually Irish conservative people are super quick to point out how discriminated they were when they first came to the US. But now that Irish/Catholic people are accepted, they think it shouldn’t count as a culture/religion celebration? How can you rationalize that to yourself?”