St. Patricks Day Parade In NYC

Yesterday in NYC St. Patricks Day Parade, celebrating THE IRISH..and the traditional IRISH HOLIDAY which has been going on for decades, was almost interrupted by a very angry Gay crowd. It's not that they were not allowed to march in the parade as Irish and carrying an Irish flag, in fact they were invited to, and many did, it was because they wanted to carry Gay banners and flags. They were told no.

Why can everyone else carry a banner and they can't?

The photo you posted shows a "police department" as the banner says - it's a group of people with something in common.

Planned Parenthood probably was in the parade carrying a banner, a dog rescue, a hospital, veterans association, probably a number of money mongering, life sucking, big businesses who are bankrupting this country with the trillions of dollars in corporate welfare they receive were represented as well - all carry banners or signs representing themselves as a group of people with a similar employer, cause, background or just to make themselves "look" good and/or supportive. Why should the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, the Institute for Human Identity or even the Metropolitan Community Church of New York not have the right to do the same, the right to be represented?

Cool. I was looking everywhere for that list. 😛

Posted by lildol
Why can everyone else carry a banner and they can't?

The photo you posted shows a "police department" as the banner says - it's a group of people with something in common.

Planned Parenthood probably was in the parade carrying a banner, a dog rescue, a hospital, veterans association, probably a number of money mongering, life sucking, big businesses who are bankrupting this country with the trillions of dollars in corporate welfare they receive were represented as well - all carry banners or signs representing themselves as a group of people with a similar employer, cause, background or just to make themselves "look" good and/or supportive. Why should the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, the Institute for Human Identity or even the Metropolitan Community Church of New York not have the right to do the same, the right to be represented?

Were they?


"The parade does not ban gays from participating, but does ban related banners and signs.

It dates from 1762, back to even before NYC was fully incorporated, and is privately run.

The courts have previously upheld parade organizer's First Amendment rights to control participation."

I'm of Irish descent. Only those supporting or celebrating the Irish culture, need to be in the parade. If you're not doing that, you have no business in it.

Kuddos to the organizers for stepping up.

You can't make a political statement about your sexuality in the parade, but by all means celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us.

"Homophobes!"

*yawn*

Rabbit, you want to argue the Irish angle... then why is it that the Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization (ILGO) could not march in the parade and carry their banner like all the other Irish??

Why can't they just march as Irish then? Why does it have to be designated?

Posted by truecap
Why can't they just march as Irish then? Why does it have to be designated?

That was for Lildol

Posted by CluelessCancer

Posted by CapTenn
You can't make a political statement about your sexuality in the parade, but by all means celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us.

"Homophobes!"

*yawn*

Why does everything have to revolve around sexuality. Damn it's insane. I don't give a fuk if you suck dik, don't be throwing it up in my face every two seconds tho, i don't give a fuk.

click to expand

For once, we agree on a quasi-political view. I marked my calendar.

Posted by CluelessCancer

Posted by truecap
Why can't they just march as Irish then? Why does it have to be designated?

Because they want to feel special. This is ridiculous. This country has no boundaries.

click to expand

Exactly.

It's the ONE day of the year where the Irish heritage is celebrated! Why can't they just let us have our one day of celebration?

Posted by truecap
Why can't they just march as Irish then? Why does it have to be designated?

Everyone else designates their "group"

The "group" is Irish.

Posted by lildol

Posted by truecap
Why can't they just march as Irish then? Why does it have to be designated?

Everyone else designates their "group"

click to expand

I think the "police" in those pics are from this group:

Rockland PD Emerald Society Pipes & Drum Corp, Piermont, NY

It's obviously an Irish group, like "Friends of Erin" and the "Gaelic" Societies.


I also think it's unfortunate (not to mention, completely false) that most news articles say that "gays were banned" from the march, when they weren't.

@truecap and Ixion120: Then why did the police department (and every other "group") carry a banner indicating that they were were part of a "group"?

@Montgomery: and the Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization is an Irish "group" which formed in 1990.

Posted by lildol
@truecap and Ixion120: Then why did the police department (and every other "group") carry a banner indicating that they were were part of a "group"?

@Montgomery: and the Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization is an Irish "group" which formed in 1990.

Because for 250 years this has been a tradition with police and firefighters...IT IS IRISH CULTURE and if you READ the article IRISH gays were allowed to march in the parade and DID. Why was the other group so angry? What was the point? Regarding the new Mayor? pfft..he's gonna be out so damn fast for the absolute lousy job he is doing. What an ASSHOLE! ugh...Governor, Mayor both need to get their asses kicked out of office! (and will..just watch) 🙂

Posted by truecap

It's the ONE day of the year where the Irish heritage is celebrated! Why can't they just let us have our one day of celebration?

Agreed!

Posted by lildol

@Montgomery: and the Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization is an Irish "group" which formed in 1990.

I posted this earlier:

Posted by Montgomery

"The parade does not ban gays from participating, but does ban related banners and signs.

It dates from 1762, back to even before NYC was fully incorporated, and is privately run.

The courts have previously upheld parade organizer's First Amendment rights to control participation."

click to expand

The Gay Rights Battle Over New York??s St. Patrick??s Day Parade: A History

In October 1992, the New York City Human Rights Commission ruled that the parade was secular, not religious, and said ILGO must be included. Citing the decision, in 1993, the city awarded the permit to the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee, which was comprised of Dinkins allies. According to the Times, they withdrew after the Ancient Order of Hibernians and its allies threatened to boycott the parade.

It appeared that there might not be a parade in 1993, but in late February, a federal judge gave the permit back to the Hibernians, calling the previous ruling "patently unconstitutional" because it violated the order's free-speech rights....

Protests by LGBT groups became an annual tradition--"


However...


"... there were gays in Boston??s parade marching with a —diversity float?? that sported seven canons, each spitting ribbons a different color of the rainbow.

The neighborhood group... had Mahoney??s blessing--

—There are some dissidents and it happens that a few of them run the parade,?? says Susan Ulrich, a South Boston native who is active in the city??s LGBT community.

—The people who run the parade are fighters, for better or worse. I grew up in a kind and gracious place. But if you back them into a corner, they will fight. If you look at the way the Irish were treated in this country, and the way the LGBT community treated, they??re remarkably similar. Both communities had to fight very hard. But communities that have to fight for every single thing they have, it dies hard.??
~



The First Amendment goes both ways.