Gay Groups Get Their Irish Up Over St. Pat’s Parade

By SARAH ALLAM

A group representing Irish-American gays and transgender persons and some city officials announced on Tuesday a continuing boycott of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade because they say parade organizers still ban specifically Irish gay marchers.

At a City Hall press conference the group branded the parade leaders’ decision to allow only the organization OUT2NBCUniversal to march next month under a gay banner but banning other groups “a marketing ploy” and “trickery.”

Gay groups of any stripe were routinely banned from the parade, in existence since 1762. After major parade sponsors such as Guinness and Heineken withdrew their support last year, parade organizers announced that they would allow OUT@NBCUniversal to march under their own banner. However, groups that specifically represent gays of Irish lineage are still banned.

“The issue has never been about having a gay group in the parade, it has always been about having an Irish gay group in the parade,” Councilman Daniel Dromm said. The City Council and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito have vowed to boycott the event.

“It is clear that last year’s decision was just to placate the parade’s sponsors who were taking their money and to allow only OUT@NBC so that the parade could continue to be televised,” Councilwoman Rosie Mendez said. “Until my Irish queer brothers and sisters can march in this parade, I will not be marching at all.”

“For the broader community, this deal is unacceptable because it still excludes groups that actually represent Irish LGBT people,” said Matthew McMorrow, a spokesman from the Empire State Pride Agenda.

Councilmembers and LGBT groups said they were frustrated over the parade committee’s reasons for not allowing them to march over the years, citing religious reasons, lack of room, and the policy of not allowing political groups.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has not yet not announced whether he would boycott the parade. Last year, he was the first mayor to boycott the parade in over 20 years.

“The demand here has always been the same,” said Irish Queers spokeswoman Emmaia Gelman, “that LGBT people are part of the Irish community, every organization and group of people that marches in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches under their own banner that says who they are and what their relationship is to the community. We want to march on those same terms without being told to hide or that we should be ashamed of ourselves.”