Florida eyes a crackdown on city, county government 'DEI' activities

[Zorro]

Local governments say the bill could prevent them from putting on cultural festivals and more.

Florida lawmakers are moving forward with legislation, supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that would prohibit local governments from supporting any “diversity, equity, and inclusion” activities.

But local governments and residents across the state worry that the bill could stop innocuous government activities, including food, music and other cultural festivals.

Sen. Clay Yarborough, a Jacksonville Republican sponsoring the Senate legislation, told lawmakers that he thought diversity, equity and inclusion were positive concepts.

But he said the “manipulation of those terms,” commonly referred to as DEI, was being used to “cloak expenditures and practices” that weren’t an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

“In no way are we trying to remove the age-old concepts and terms and understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion,” Yarborough said this week. “It’s this DEI effort.”

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2026/02/20/florida-local-dei-bill-diversity-desantis-miami-pride/

Sounds as if he knows these anti-DEI initiatives are unpopular, so he's trying to justify his initiative by saying "DEI" is different from the definition of DEI...

So no more government-supported St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, or Gay Pride parades or celebrations for Florida...

[jls4561]

1. But if you're fat, low IQ, cheat at golf and on your wife, too illiterate to read the Constitution and too corrupt to

follow it, Florida will name an airport after you.