loading . . . Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill on Wednesday banning local governments from “funding or promoting or taking official action as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” The bill would also ban local governments from supporting Pride celebrations.
At a press conference after signing the bill, he reportedly described DEI as “an ideological construct that is designed to promote a particular political agenda, particularly to the detriment of disfavored groups.”
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“I would think with DEI, the disfavored groups, number one obviously, would be white males,” he said, “and I think they’ve been discriminated against.”
“It’s not fine,” he added. “It’s wrong.”
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The bill defines DEI as any effort to “manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of employees with reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation other than to ensure that hiring is conducted in accordance with state and federal antidiscrimination laws” as well as any effort to “Promote or provide preferential treatment or special benefits to” those groups or “promote or adopt training, programming, or activities designed or implemented with reference” to them.
As such, it means local governments cannot be involved in LGBTQ+ events.
> Today in Jacksonville, I signed two important bills to limit government overreach and prevent local authorities from imposing carbon taxes and discriminatory DEI mandates on Floridians.
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> ✔️ SB 1134 prohibits counties, municipalities, contractors and grantees from using public… pic.twitter.com/bOWs03IVa0
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> — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 22, 2026
The legislation allows residents to bring civil action and states that county officials who violate the law are guilty of “misfeasance or malfeasance in office.”
“This bill is dangerous, vague by design, and part of a broader political agenda of censorship and government overreach,” said Equality Florida Executive Director Stratton Pollitzer in a statement. “Once again, Florida lawmakers have manufactured a sweeping anti-LGBTQ law — legislation intended to bully local governments and have a chilling effect on how they celebrate and support the diverse communities they serve.”
The organization pointed to a statement from Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) that says that the bill doesn’t outright ban Pride celebrations in the state, it just restricts how local governments can support or promote them.
DeSantis has long been on a tear against the LGBTQ+ community and is especially known for sparking a war with Disney after the company spoke out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. He has proudly referred to Florida as the state “where woke goes to die,” and his inflammatory rhetoric has had a massive influence on anti-LGBTQ+ movements across the country.
In 2023, he signed a bill criminalizing anyone who uses a toilet or changing facility that doesn’t match the gender they were assigned at birth. The law applies to public schools, universities, parks, prisons, and other government buildings. He has also signed a law allowing state officials to take temporary custody of children who may be receiving gender-affirming care now or in the future.
“We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy,” he said that same year. “We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional. We will never surrender to the woke mob.”
He also told Fox News, “We can’t, as a country, succeed if kindergartners are being taught that their gender is a choice or that they can change, they were born in the wrong body — that’s just wrong.”
DeSantis is currently focused on eliminating rainbow crosswalks in the state.
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