The Miami City Commission is scheduled to vote on Thursday, November 20, on an ordinance that would disband its LGBTQ Advisory Board, eliminate the municipal office of equal opportunity, and repeal the city's affirmative action policy, all in order to comply with the new Florida anti-DEI state law before it takes effect on January 1.
The law in question is SB 1134, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in April 2026, which prohibits counties and municipalities in the state from funding, promoting, or adopting official measures related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This same law already forced Delray Beach to cancel its St. Patrick's Day parade and its planned Pride event for 2027.
According to a report by The Florida Trib, the proposal that will be debated next week does not identify any sponsors. Under this measure, the LGBTQ Advisory Board — established in 2020 with the mission of enhancing the quality of life for residents and visitors of that community — would continue to exist formally but would lose the assigned municipal attorney and all its powers outlined in the code: from making recommendations to the Commission to serving as a forum to express concerns about homophobia and transphobia.
The ordinance includes a clause that would restore those powers if SB 1134 were repealed or declared unconstitutional.
In addition to disbanding the LGBTQ board, the proposal would completely eliminate the Equal Opportunities Advisory Board and the Equal Opportunity Diversity Programs office, which handles internal complaints of workplace discrimination. Such complaints would then be processed through the Human Resources department.
The municipal affirmative action policy, which to this point establishes the "ethical and moral responsibility" of the city to consider applicants and employees without distinction of race, sex, religion, national origin, or disability, would also be repealed.
The only commissioner who has publicly announced his position is Damian Pardo, from District 2, the first openly gay commissioner in Miami and co-founder of the LGBTQ organization SAVE. Pardo will vote against it.
"All of this harms us. It harms our economy. It harms our image in the world. This affects real lives and real people. It has consequences," Pardo declared to The Florida Trib.
In a written statement, the commissioner was more direct: "SB 1134 was an overreach when it was passed: yet another example of state interference in local matters, clearly aimed at LGBTQ residents and other groups. The law should be repealed immediately."
Pardo also linked the voting to the results of the midterm elections on November 3, in which Miami-Dade shifted about 18 points towards the Democrats compared to 2024, with a turnout exceeding 60%.
The county selected Democratic candidates for the federal Senate, the governorship, and the state attorney general. "If the results of the midterm elections indicate anything, it is that voters are tired of cultural wars and want us to focus on meeting their needs," he stated.
The vote becomes the first major political test for Mayor Eileen Higgins, the first Democrat to lead Miami in nearly three decades, who does not have a vote on the Commission but does hold veto power. By the time of this edition, Higgins had not responded to whether she would veto the ordinance if it were approved.
If approved next week, the measure must pass a second and final vote before it takes effect.
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