Discrimination!

Saint Patrick's Day parades?

Mardi Gras parades?

Cinco de Mayo parades?

Fiesta of Five Flags?

Chinese New Year parades?

Puerto Rican parades?

Pride parades?

Have they all been banned? Well, the governor just signed a bill banning Pride parades and other DEI events. So, are all these events banned? After all, cultural parades are DEI!

Ron DeSantis bans local governments from supporting Pride events & DEI initiatives

DEI and Pride discriminate against “white males,” DeSantis said. “It’s wrong.”

LGBTQ Nation

Molly Sprayregen (She/Her)

April 23, 2026

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.”

“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.”

Um... this is what throws me: "DEI and Pride discriminate against white males." How so? How is a Pride event discriminating against white males? I don't know about you, but at Pride events, I see a lot of white males walking around. So, how is it discrimination? The same holds true for the other events that he has banned—how is it discrimination? In their hatred of anything LGBTQ+, have they banned all cultural events?

 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.

You know, that just turned the definition of discrimination on its head! Think about it.

If an employer refuses to hire any Black employees, under this law, "manipulating or otherwise influencing the composition of employees" by forcing them to hire Black candidates would fall under that. The law has essentially made enforcing anti-discrimination measures illegal!

So, we shall see if any city, town, or county will have any Puerto Rican parades this year, or if they have determined that the law only affects us—the LGBTQ+ community. We are likely heading toward a massive legal battle over whether a city can recognize the heritage of its own citizens without it being labeled "illegal DEI."