Florida mayors will not be able to attend gay Pride parades in their capacity as an elected official, if a bill passed by the Florida Legislature this year (SB 1134) is signed into law, and that’s rubbing aspiring Orlando mayor Anna Eskamani — a state representative representing parts of Orlando — the wrong way.
“You can attend these events, but you can’t denote that you’re an elected official,” Eskamani told the hosts of a WMNF 88.5-FM Tampa radio program Friday morning. “I mean, it’s just so silly and impossible, right? It’s as if, you know, I walk into Pride, and if someone calls me mayor, I have to duck and hide,” she joked. “I mean, that’s how absurd and obscene, right, the legislation really is.” (Donning a fake mustache, or a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie — à la Damian from the iconic 2004 film Mean Girls — could also suffice.)
Senate Bill 1134, passed largely along party lines earlier this month with most Republicans in favor, prohibits local governments from promoting or funding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, with exceptions for federal and state holidays and patriotic and national observances recognized by federal law. Local elected officials, including mayors, who violate this prohibition could be removed from office by the governor.
Under the proposal, sponsored by GOP Sen. Clay Yarborough, DEI is defined 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.”
It is still awaiting the final approval of Gov. Ron DeSantis following the end of lawmakers’ 60-day annual legislative session last week.
“This bill, likely soon to be law, is unconstitutional, and I suspect there will be litigation filed primarily because it censors the First Amendment rights of elected officials,” Eskamani predicted.
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Eskamani, a 35-year-old progressive born and raised in Orlando, is currently one of three candidates in the running for Orlando mayor next year. The other candidates are Elliot Kahana — unclear if it’s the same Kahana indicted over alleged embezzlement in 2014 — and Abdelnasser Lutfi. Sitting Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, also a Democrat who’s attended Pride events in the city, confirmed last year that after six terms, he’s finally done with the job and won’t be running against her in 2027.
Dyer hasn’t made any public statements about SB 1134 that we’re aware of, but several other local leaders across the state, including St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch — a Democrat up for re-election this year — have publicly slammed the proposal.
“This proposed legislation is a serious threat to local governments and directly challenges the constitutional principle of home rule in Florida,” Welch said during a March news conference, according to reporting by the Florida Phoenix. “It is also the latest attempt by some in the Legislature to redefine and demonize the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion. This legislation is vague, and the impacts will be much broader than many will realize.”
Local leaders have warned it could affect cities’ abilities to fund or promote anything from Oktoberfest celebrations to government workplace trainings on “unconscious bias” — an example specifically cited by Yarborough — and other cultural events or festivals.
Lawmakers pointedly added a carve-out for memorials and monuments after facing backlash over how the bill could affect a memorial that’s in the works to commemorate the 2016 mass shooting that killed 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando.
Eskamani said these carve-outs, though — roughly a dozen in total — essentially signal types of diversity that the state deems “acceptable” and create “vagueness in what is not acceptable.”
She noted that events like Orlando’s gay Pride festivities in October typically take place at public parks (e.g., Lake Eola Park) and are made possible through the coordination of public safety officials, public parks and recreation staff, and other public-private partnerships.
“This could very well be one of the last Pride seasons where elected officials can just show up without these kind of fears and consequences,” noted WMNF radio host (and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay editor-in-chief) Ray Roa, in conversation with Eskamani on Friday.
Six Republican lawmakers — five in the House and one in the Senate — joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. DeSantis, who’s finishing up his second and final term as Florida governor this year, has already expressed support for the proposal and is expected to sign it into law.
It’s one of several controversial bills that is expected to cross his desk in the coming weeks, in addition to a bill drafted by the governor’s office that would allow the state to designate “domestic terrorist” organizations (HB 1471) and another one that would make it easier for the state to dismantle public employee unions (SB 1296).
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