Overview
- Delray Beach announced on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that it will not organize, fund, or promote the city-sponsored 2027 St. Patrick’s Day Parade or the 2027 Pride event after a legal review of Florida’s new law.
- Senate Bill 1134, signed in April and effective Jan. 1, 2027, defines diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to include programming referencing race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation and bars municipalities from funding or promoting such activities.
- Mayor Tom Carney is actively seeking private sponsors and private organizers and says the city is pursuing permit-driven, privately run options to try to keep the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on the calendar, but no final plan has been announced.
- The law allows cities to issue event permits in a content-neutral way and to provide public safety services, which could enable privately run events, but it also creates enforcement rules that could classify violations by local officials as misfeasance or malfeasance.
- Residents and volunteers say the cancellations threaten longstanding community traditions and local businesses that rely on the crowds, and the episode highlights a broader statewide push to limit municipal DEI activity that could shift how public events are funded and run.