Miami Moves to Gut LGBTQ Advisory Board and Repeal Affirmative Action Ahead of Florida DEI Ban

The City of Miami is preparing to vote on an ordinance that would strip its LGBTQ Advisory Board of its powers, repeal the city's affirmative action policy and eliminate the office that investigates internal job discrimination complaints, a move city officials frame as compliance with Florida's new ban on local diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The measure, reported by The Florida Trib and republished by WLRN on Nov. 13, is slated to go before the Miami City Commission next week, just over a week after a Nov. 3 election in which Miami-Dade County voters swung sharply toward Democrats.

The timing has put the proposal at the center of a debate over what the city's political direction should be. Commissioner Damian Pardo, the city's first openly gay commissioner, has said he will vote against it, and Mayor Eileen Higgins, Miami's first Democratic mayor in decades, has not said whether she would use her veto.

What the ordinance would do

The proposed ordinance is written in anticipation of Senate Bill 1134, the state law barring cities and counties from funding, promoting or taking official action on DEI initiatives, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. According to The Florida Trib's reporting, it would:

• Strip the LGBTQ Advisory Board's powers and duties from the city code and remove its assigned city attorney, while leaving the board technically in existence
• Repeal the city code's affirmative action policy, which commits the city to fair and equitable consideration of job applicants and employees regardless of protected characteristics
• Eliminate the Equal Opportunity Diversity Programs office, known as EODP, which investigates internal employment discrimination complaints
• Eliminate the Equal Opportunity Advisory Board

In place of EODP, the city would set up a reporting and investigation procedure for discrimination and retaliation claims inside its human resources department, "as permitted" under the new state law.

The ordinance quotes the law's prohibition on programming or activities designed or implemented with reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation. It also contains a carve-out: if SB 1134 is repealed or struck down as unconstitutional, the LGBTQ board's powers would be restored.

What the LGBTQ board would lose

Miami created its LGBTQ Advisory Board by ordinance on Feb. 13, 2020, to advise the City Commission. Under the current code, the board can make recommendations to the commission, promote positive images of the LGBTQ community, encourage LGBTQ-owned business, conduct fact-finding and serve as a public forum on homophobia and transphobia. All of those duties would be struck from the code under the proposal.

Without a defined role or legal support from the city attorney's office, the board would effectively exist in name only until state law changes. Pardo himself served on the board before he was elected to the commission in 2023, and he is a founder of SAVE, the South Florida LGBTQ advocacy organization.

The state law behind the move

The Legislature passed SB 1134 in March over loud objections from Democrats, who called it overbroad and potentially unconstitutional and warned it would hurt tourism and the economic benefits of diversity events. The House sponsor, Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, said during debate that "DEI has to D-I-E, because it's in our way." Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in April.

The law carries serious consequences for local officials. Those who violate it can be removed from office, and local governments can be sued over noncompliance. Contractors and grant recipients must also certify that public money will not be used for prohibited DEI activity.

Other South Florida governments are already reacting. Delray Beach announced on Nov. 10 that it would no longer host or fund its St. Patrick's Day Parade or its annual Pride Festival in 2027, concluding that the new law bars it from organizing either event. In the Florida Keys, LGBTQ events in Key West are set to lose access to tourism funding under the same law starting in 2027. Before the bill became law, Miami-Dade County commissioners voted to urge DeSantis to veto it.

Pardo: voters sent a different message

Pardo, who represents District 2, has been one of the most vocal local critics of SB 1134. When the bill passed, he called it a "travesty," and he has said it "should be repealed immediately." He told The Florida Trib that the city's ordinance would damage Miami's economy and its global brand. "All of this hurts us," he said.

Pardo also argued that the midterm results show residents want city government focused on delivering services, not on culture-war fights.

The "blue tsunami" backdrop

Statewide, Florida Republicans largely held onto power on Nov. 3, winning the governor's race and other top offices. But Miami-Dade County moved the other way. With turnout at 61%, county voters favored Democrat Angie Nixon over U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, Democrat David Jolly over Republican Byron Donalds in the governor's race, and Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez over Attorney General James Uthmeier, according to The Florida Trib.

That shift is what makes the ordinance politically awkward for city leaders, and particularly for Higgins. She was elected in 2025 as the city's first Democratic mayor in decades. The mayor of Miami does not vote on the commission but holds veto power over its legislation. Higgins did not respond to a request asking whether she would veto the measure. She has already drawn criticism for keeping the city's 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arrangement that predates her term, and the DEI ordinance is shaping up as another test of how she balances state mandates against the expectations of the voters who elected her.

Higgins has a long record on LGBTQ issues. As a Miami-Dade County commissioner, she sponsored the 2019 ordinance that created the county's own LGBTQ advisory board.

What's next

The City Commission is expected to take up the ordinance at its meeting next week; the city has posted notice of a regular commission meeting on Thursday, Nov. 19, at City Hall. As an ordinance, the measure would need to pass on first reading and then come back for a second and final vote before it takes effect. If it clears both readings, Higgins would then decide whether to sign it or issue a veto.

Whatever Miami decides, SB 1134 takes effect on Jan. 1, and cities and counties across Florida face the same deadline to review their boards, offices, events and contracts. For Miami's LGBTQ residents and city employees who rely on the EODP office to handle discrimination complaints, the vote will determine what protections remain in the city code when the law kicks in.