LGBT community banned from NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade
The traditional St Patrick’s Day Parade excludes members of the LGBT community on the grounds that it is a religious event.
The organizers of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade, seeking to legalize their discrimination against Irish lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender marchers, have redefined the parade as a private, religious procession.
Today, gay group Irish Queers lined the sides of the parade to protest against the exclusion. They also criticised local police departments for joining the march, estimating that tens of thousands of police officers and firefighters were involved.
JF Mulligan of Irish Queers said in a statement: “Anti-gay discrimination is now illegal in both Ireland and New York City. The NYPD, FDNY and Mayor Bloomberg need catch up. As city representatives, they cannot legally march until parade organisers renounce their discriminatory message.”
Dublin LGBT groups have also criticised the event. A statement said the exclusion was “deeply un-Irish and something that we cannot allow to happen in the name of an event that is about celebrating Ireland’s rich cultural heritage, of which the LGBT community are a corner stone here in Ireland”.
(Full story: Pink Paper UK)
Posted by Rob Coe on March 17th, 2010 at 3:10pm
