A Florida city canceled its annual St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade after a new state law banning government-funded \u201cDEI\u201d initiatives took effect \u2014 as outraged residents railed against the \u201cridiculous\u201d measure.<\/p>\n
Delray Beach officials said the new state legislation severely restricts the city from holding either the beloved St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade or its Pride event when the calendar flips to 2027.<\/p>\n
The much-maligned announcement comes ahead of the Jan. 1 date when the new legislation, SB 1134, takes effect statewide.<\/p>\n
Performers wearing green on a float during the Delray Beach St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade in 2024. City of Delray Beach<\/p>\n
The law passed by both chambers in the State House and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, prohibits county and municipal governments from \u201cfunding or promoting or taking official action as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Restrictions from the legislation also hinder cities from holding events celebrating heritage and ethnicity.<\/p>\n
Florida officials caught violating the new law will be declared to have committed misfeasance or malfeasance in office and are subject to suspension, administrative discipline or removal from office by the governor, according to the state constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing a review of the legislation and its requirements, the City has determined that it is legally prohibited from organizing, funding, or promoting these events in 2027,\u201d city officials announced Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese restrictions include certain programming and activities designed or implemented with reference to ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
A motorcyclist with a green beard rides along the parade route during the City of Delray Beach\u2019s St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebration in 2024. City of Delray Beach<\/p>\n
Delray Beach residents cried out over the decision, questioning the reasoning behind the cancelations and expressing concerns about what it could do to the local economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisappointed? Ridiculous. You know, it\u2019s just \u2013 are they going to cancel the Christmas parade as well? So, there\u2019s a lot of issues going on here and it\u2019s weird,\u201d Delray Beach resident Randy Biro fumed to WPBF.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiddle of the season, it\u2019ll bring business to the avenue. And it\u2019s good and it\u2019s fun. And it\u2019ll probably bring, I guess, 50-60,000 people here,\u201d police volunteer Kenny Moskowitz told the outlet. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous. Why would they cancel it? It\u2019s just, it\u2019s beyond anything we can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney waves to the crowd as he rides along during the city\u2019s St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade on March 15, 2025. Instagram \/ mayorthomascarney<\/p>\n
Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney joined in the frustration from residents over the parade cancelations but revealed the city couldn\u2019t do much because of the state law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade isn\u2019t just another parade. It\u2019s engrained in the DNA of the Delray Beach community,\u201d Mayor Tom Carney wrote on Facebook Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Carney said the city is working \u201cfeverishly\u201d with several groups to still hold the beloved parade but did not provide additional details.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those who live, work & play in Delray, we want the Delray Beach St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade to stay!\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Carney alluded to additional city-led events being canceled because of the new law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill puts severe restrictions on how cities can pay for community events such as the St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade along with potentially other city-sponsored events,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
SB 1134 does not prohibit the celebration of certain holidays if they are recognized by federal law, including Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s birthday, Presidents\u2019 Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Florida city canceled its annual St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade after a new state law banning government-funded \u201cDEI\u201d initiatives took effect \u2014 as outraged residents railed against the \u201cridiculous\u201d measure. Delray Beach officials said the new state legislation severely restricts the city from holding either the beloved St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade or its Pride event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[55259,557,239,9136,332,389,2591,5755,19004,910],"class_list":["post-86310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-dei","tag-events","tag-florida","tag-legislation","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-events","tag-pride","tag-st-patricks-day","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117603906549699650","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}