MIAMI, FL — The ACLU of Florida applauds leaders in Miami Beach and Tallahassee for refusing to prematurely abandon programs and investments serving their diverse communities in anticipation of Senate Bill 1134 (SB 1134), Florida’s harmful new law restricting local government actions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
At City Commission meetings this past Wednesday, both cities recognized that the harmful anti-diversity law does not take effect until January 1, 2027, and voted to preserve current funding and support for community programs and rejected attempts to prematurely defund programming that best serves the needs of their diverse communities.
In Miami Beach, commissioners voted unanimously to preserve funding for Miami Beach Pride and other LGBTQ+ community initiatives. In Tallahassee, city leaders unanimously voted to preserve funding and staffing for the Tallahassee-Leon County Commission on the Status of Women & Girls and kept support for Tallahassee Pride, the Experience Asia Festival, and the Filipino Festival.
“This is what it looks like when local leaders choose courage over fear,” said Kara Gross, Policy and Advocacy Director for the ACLU of Florida. “Miami Beach and Tallahassee listened to their communities, looked carefully at what the law actually requires, and refused to surrender more than the law demands. That matters not only for Pride or any single program. It sends a message to local elected officials across Florida: do not pre-comply, do not self-censor, and do not abandon the people you were elected to serve.”
The decisions come weeks after the ACLU of Florida, Equality Florida, and the Community Justice Project sent a letter to 156 cities and counties across the state urging local officials not to preemptively surrender their authority to SB 1134, outlining constitutional and statutory limitations on the law.
“The danger of SB 1134 has never been limited to the words written on the page,” said Bacardi Jackson, ACLU of Florida’s Executive Director. “It is also about what fear of the law might cause governments to stop doing. On Wednesday, two Florida cities proved that fear does not have to dictate the answer. Local governments can ask tough questions, examine the limits of the law, defend their communities, and continue doing everything within their lawful authority to ensure that all their residents are being seen and served.”
In the letter, the civil rights organizations argue that local governments still retain significant authority to address certain community interests and needs, despite the anticipated constraints of this law.
SB 1134 remains bound by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, which prohibit the government from suppressing or favoring particular viewpoints. Likewise, the Florida Constitution does not authorize the governor to remove or suspend municipal officers who defend these programs. The Constitution only authorizes suspension of elected municipal officers upon indictment of a crime—and disagreeing with the governor’s censorship agenda is not a crime.
The ACLU of Florida will continue to ensure that local governments do not over-comply with SB 1134 and defend the constitutional rights of Floridians and the ability of local communities to serve their constituents. It is calling on local elected officials throughout the state to stand with their diverse constituents and not prematurely defund community programming. This harmful law does not go into effect until January 1, 2027, and local leaders should be doing everything in their power to serve and protect their communities.
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