Florida City Cancels St. Patrick's Day Parade After Nearly 60 Years, Citing New Anti-DEI Law

The Florida city of Delray Beach has cancelled its St. Patrick's Day parade, a tradition of nearly 60 years, saying a new state law that prohibits taxpayer dollars from going toward diversity initiatives leaves it no choice.

The new law, backed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, takes effect on January 1. It is part of the state's ongoing crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which the governor has called discriminatory and said have 'no place' in public institutions.

City officials also said Delray Beach will withdraw its sponsorship of LGBTQ Pride celebrations in June.

The city attorney told the mayor that any government-sponsored celebrations of culture, ethnicity or heritage that are not a national holiday — Independence Day, for example — could run afoul of the new anti-DEI law. Mayor Tom Carney then made what he called the difficult decision to cancel the parade.

Delray Beach is a community in southeast Florida with picturesque beaches and a historic downtown. The parade, an annual event since 1970, was one of the city's biggest events of the year.

In past years the parade wound its way through the downtown core, with spectators lined up several people deep along the route. Local businesses and organizations sponsored floats and giveaways, school bands played as they marched, and participants included members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the largest and oldest Irish Catholic organization in the country.

Carney, a Republican of Irish descent, told NPR: 'I've said it's engrained in the DNA of Delray and I do mean that. It's one of our signature events.'

The mayor said he is hopeful the city can find a path forward and preserve the event. If a private sponsor volunteered to take over the St. Patrick's Day parade or the June Pride celebrations, he said, the city would gladly hand over the reins and support the continuation of the festivities with private dollars.

Carney said the parade was privately run until about eight years ago, so returning to a private-sponsorship model would be a callback to its origins. His own family, he said, was involved in keeping the parade going during the 1980s and 1990s.

Officials said they have been inundated with emails, calls and social media messages from constituents angry that the community's decades-long celebration has been axed. 'It was kind of a call to action to me,' Carney said. 'The community really wants to have it, so we should go ahead and have it, we just need to get it privately funded.'

Governor DeSantis, meanwhile, accused Delray Beach of weaponizing the new law to make a political point. In a message posted on X after the cancellation announcement, he called the move 'malicious compliance' and wrote: '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.'

Mayor Carney said the city is merely trying to stay out of trouble with the law. The measure, SB1134, asserts that any official who violates the provision could face civil or legal consequences. 'The legislation has unintended consequences. The governor may genuinely believe what he believes and I take him at his word; our city attorney came up with a different conclusion,' Carney said. 'I'm going to leave it at that.'