In anticipation of Florida’s new and sweeping anti-DEI law going into effect Jan. 1, the city of Miami is weighing a proposal that would gut its LGBTQ board, repeal the city’s affirmative action policy and eliminate the office tasked with investigating discrimination complaints.
Next week, the Miami City Commission is slated to vote on an ordinance that seeks to comply with Senate Bill 1134, a vestige of Florida’s anti-woke culture-wars that bars local governments from funding, promoting or taking official action on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — programming that generally focuses on marginalized groups. It’s the same law that recently prompted Delray Beach to scrap its 2027 St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Pride Parade.
The Miami proposal is headed to the city’s elected officials two weeks after the midterm “blue tsunami” swept the nation. While Florida Republicans largely held onto power last week, they did so in spite of Miami-Dade County. With 61% turnout, Miami-Dade voters chose Democrat Angie Nixon over incumbent U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody; David Jolly over Republican Byron Donalds for governor; and Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez over incumbent Attorney General James Uthmeier – reversing inroads Republicans had made in recent elections.
Meanwhile, Miami elected Mayor Eileen Higgins just last year, making her the city’s first Democratic mayor in decades. The upcoming city legislation could be a test for Higgins, who’s faced criticism during her first year in office for the city’s continued partnership with ICE through a 287(g) agreement the city inked before Higgins was elected.
The city legislation heavily references the new state law, noting that it prohibits “programming, or activities designed or implemented with reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” It’s not clear who filed the legislation, which does not mention a named sponsor.
The Miami proposal takes aim at the city’s LGBTQ Advisory Board, the Equal Opportunity Advisory Board, the Equal Opportunity Diversity Programs, which fields internal employment discrimination complaints, and the city’s affirmative action policy.
The LGBTQ Advisory Board, which has a stated mission to advise the City Commission “for the betterment of quality life of all LGBTQ+ residents and visitors,” would technically still exist under the proposal. But the board would lose the city attorney assigned to it, and its powers and duties — as enshrined in the city code — would be completely stricken, effectively rendering the board toothless.
The change, for example, includes eliminating the board’s power to:
- Make recommendations to the City Commission
- Promote positive images of the LGBTQ community
- Encourage and attract LGBTQ business to the city
- Conduct fact-finding and analysis about problems specific to the community
- Serve as a forum to “express concerns related to issues of homophobia and transphobia”
The legislation includes a carve-out that would reinstate the LGBTQ board’s powers if the state law is repealed or deemed unconstitutional.
The Equal Opportunity Advisory Board and the Equal Opportunity Diversity Programs would be eliminated under the proposal. Instead, the city would “establish a reporting and investigatory protocol and procedure” for discrimination and retaliation claims within the human resources department, “as permitted” under the new law.
The proposal also eliminates the affirmative action policy enshrined in the city code, which states that the city has “an ethical and moral responsibility to provide fair and equitable consideration of applicants and employees, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, place of birth, marital status or physical or mental handicap.”
“All of this hurts us,” said Commissioner Damian Pardo. “It hurts our economy. It hurts our brand throughout the world. … This is something that affects real lives and real people. It has consequences.”
Pardo, the city’s first openly-gay commissioner and founder of the LGBTQ advocacy organization SAVE, told The Florida Trib he will be a no-vote on the ordinance.
“Senate Bill 1134 was a travesty when it passed — one more example of state overreach on a local matter, clearly targeting LGBTQ residents and other groups,” Pardo said in a statement, adding that the law “should be repealed immediately.”
Pardo, who previously served on the city’s LGBTQ Advisory Board, also pointed to the recent midterm results, saying if they are “any indication, voters are tired of culture wars and want us to get down to the business of serving their needs.”
The legislation would need to come back for a second and final vote if the commission gives the green light next week.
Higgins, who does not have a vote on the City Commission but does have veto power, did not respond to a request for comment asking whether she would consider vetoing the legislation if it passed.
This reporting is made possible through a partnership between The Florida Trib and the Coconut Grove Spotlight with support from The Miami Foundation, Report for America, and other generous donors.
