Come help protest the exclusion of LGBT people from NYC's 'official' Saint Patrick's Day Parade
Tomorrow March 17th is Saint Patrick's Day. The day when everybody is "Irish for the day", beer is dyed green, people wear buttons urging perfect strangers to come over and kiss them and American's everywhere, regardless of their actual family heritage, religion and background march in numerous "Saint Patrick's Day Parades held in municipalities all over the country. Unless, of course, you are an out & proud member or friend of the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community in New York City. There, unless you agree to shut up and crawl back into the closet you are barred [by court order] from participating in New York City's "official" Saint Patrick's Day Parade.
Know Your History
The New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is the largest annual civic celebration of Irish-American heritage held in the United States. It is the 2nd oldest civic and public celebration of Irish Heritage in the Americas, [Boston holding pride of place having started theirs in 1737]. New York City's salute to all things Irish started [amusingly enough] in a celebration held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1756. The first actual Saint Patrick's Day Parade took place on March 17th in 1762, when the [mostly Protestant] Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched through the city. This tradition of the various Saint Patrick's Day Marches throughout NYC being primarily military reviews with the marchers drawn largely from Irish members of the local militias continued until sometime in the 1820s when social and fraternal organizations such as the Hibernian Universal Benevolent Society and the Independent Sons of Erin began to invite in contingents in from the wider Irish/Irish-American community. It was not until 1853 that the Ancient Order of Hibernians [AOH], the parade's current sponsor, first marched.
However, since the 1990s, Irish & Irish American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans folks have been barred from marching in the parade under their own banners. Why? Because the "johny-come-lately's in the Ancient Order of Hibernians took it in their head to declare that the parade was their private Catholic religious event, in order to shut out LGBT people and pretty much anyone else they didn't like or were feuding with, [& it's a long list of groups that at one time or another did not fit their political agenda, including, women's groups, people of colour, people that use wheelchairs, to name just a few]. Because of this NYC Saint Patrick's Day Parade no longer represent Irish/Irish-American culture, contributions and civic pride. - it represents religious bigotry and petty in-fighting masquerading as culture.
The exclusion of LGBT people from the St. Patrick’s Day parade is not just an issue concerning the Irish & Irish American community. Not when the City, the State and the media happily contribute resources into making this parade happen. This parade draws the ranks of elected officials [but NOT NYC's current City Council Speaker Ms. Christine Quinn a out & proud Irish-American, Lesbian], thousands of city workers including police officers & fire-fighters, and organized labour. Their participation endorses homophobia.
So this Saint Patrick's Day do something that really is traditionally Irish, come on out and help resist tyranny, fight for equality and celebrate the genuine Irish values of community, family and pride. Come join the nice people from Irish Queers and their allies in protesting the exclusion of Irish & Irish-American LGBT people and their friends and relations from NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Please come on down to the East Side of Fifth Avenue at 57th Street on Friday March 17th for a Sideline Protest & Picket starting at 10:30 am or thereabouts. To get there take the N, R, W or 4, 5, 6 trains to 59th Street and walk over. All people of good-will regardless of their ethnic background, sexual orientation, political affiliations, religious affiliation, etc., etc., etc. are most sincerely welcome!
If you can't be there in person you can still be there in spirit. Here are 10 things you can do to support the whole NYC Irish Community.