Florida’s Senate approved anti-DEI legislation this week that critics say is aimed at defunding local Pride and Black History Month celebrations and even could result in bans on St. Patrick’s Day events.

The state Senate passed S.B. 1134 in a 25–11 vote Wednesday night, with one Republican senator siding with all Democrats to oppose the bill and one Independent siding with Republicans in support of it, the Florida Phoenix and other outlets reported.

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If signed into law by Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the legislation would ban local governments from using taxpayer dollars to fund or promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

The bill defines DEI as any effort to “promote or adopt training, programming or activities designed or implemented with reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation,” but it includes exceptions for events or programs related to federal holidays or individuals and groups honored by monuments, memorials, and museums authorized by state law, according to Axios.

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The bill would allow any city or county resident to sue their local government for perceived violations, while local elected officials could be removed from office, according to the Florida Phoenix.

On the Senate floor, Democrats like state Sen. Tina Polsky blasted S.B. 1134 as overly broad and vague.

“As written, the bill exposes officials to severe consequences for any perceived violation, even when decisions are made in good faith,” Polsky said, according to the Phoenix. “Terms like ‘related to diversity, equity, and inclusion’ are undefined and sweeping and create significant legal risks for reasonable judgement calls.” 

Local elected officials across the state have also criticized the bill. The proposed law uses “broad terminology related to diversity, equity, and similar concepts but the boundaries of what are prohibited are not clearly defined,” Fernandina Beach Commissioner Genece Minshew told the paper, adding that its combination of unclear standards and severe penalties would create “instability in local governance.”

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch (D) called the bill “a serious threat to local governments” that “directly challenges the constitutional principle of home rule in Florida.” During a Wednesday video conference with other local elected officials, Welch warned that the legislation “is vague, and the impacts will be much broader than many will realize.”

During an appearance on local public radio station WUSF, Welch described the bill as “authoritarian,” explaining that it “would prohibit cities from doing everything from St. Patrick’s Day to having a program for girls who might want to go into the fire service, certainly honoring African-Americans or the LGBTQ community.”

But Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) told the Phoenix that criticism of the S.B. 1134 is “inaccurate.” Perez claimed that while the bill bans taxpayer dollars from funding “certain events that have to do with DEI,” it “doesn’t inhibit the ability for local governments to have a gay pride festival if that is what they choose to do.”

As the Phoenix notes, the bill’s sponsors repeatedly amended it as it made its way through committee as they realized the unintended consequences of its overly broad language. Among those amendments is one meant to allow the city of Orlando to move ahead with its permanent memorial for the victims of the 2018 Pulse Nightclub mass shooting.

But during Senate debate, state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) argued that those amendments were proof that “the bill is rotten to its core.”

“It’s so sweeping and consequential in nature that it’s no wonder that the bill has been amended over and over and more and more exceptions have been added and more carveouts have been added, because there’s simply too many unintended consequences from this proposal,” Smith said, according to the Phoenix.

In a statement, Equality Florida senior political director Joe Saunder described the bill as “a sledgehammer aimed at cities and counties that dare to recognize and address the diversity of the people they serve,” and blasted DeSantis and state lawmakers for advancing legislation that threatens “decades of local progress supporting diverse communities, including the LGBTQ community.”

The bill, out Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis (D) told the Florida Phoenix, is clearly intended to “denigrate” the LGBTQ+ community, communities of color, and women.

“It’s quite targeted at those communities,” he said. “The rhetoric over the past several years continues to show a direction that this particular administration and this Legislature has followed.”

According to Axios, during Wednesday’s virtual town hall, Trantalis warned that S.B. 1134 “risks sending the message that some people are less welcome than others” in Florida, and that that perception would also lead to economic consequences for the state.

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