thelesbianlifestyle.com

Protest at NYC St. Patrick’s Parade as Irish LGBT people refuse to disappear

Challenges to the exclusion of LGBT people from the NYC St. Patrick’s parade
this year will come from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Once again, Irish
Queers will assemble at 58th Street & Fifth Ave. at 10:30am to protest the
exclusion of Irish & Irish American LGBT people from the parade. At the same
time, in Ireland, LGBT groups will call for an end to the homophobia of the
New York parade. Council Speaker Quinn, who has frequently protested with
Irish Queers at the New York parade, will join the Dublin groups.

“Because of the parade, St. Patrick’s Day in New York has become a call to
action against bigotry. In this time of war and anti-immigrant backlash,
it’s urgent that we raise our voices,” said JohnFrancis Mulligan, an
organizer with Irish Queers. “So it’s especially scandalous that Mayor
Bloomberg marches each year. It’s scandalous that uniformed police and
firefighters march in a blatantly anti-gay event.”

“This is about more than a parade – it’s about whole communities,” said
Tierney Gleason of Irish Queers. “When parade organizers voice hatred toward
Irish and Irish-American LGBT people, they foster intolerance and ultimately
violence against LGBT people in immigrant communities.”

“As Irish Queers, we persist in living our Irishness and queerness
simultaneously. We won’t let a bunch of religious-right businessmen tell us
we’re not Irish just because we don’t fit their agenda,” Gleason continued.

The New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade has become synonymous with bigotry –
in spite of the fact that the first St. Patrick’s Parade in New York was
organized to combat anti-Irish prejudice; and the AOH was originally formed
to fight for Irish workers’ rights in anti-immigrant times.

The New York City parade organizers have actively excluded Irish LGBT people
for 16 years. They have also excluded other groups whose Irish identity they
deemed “unsuitable,” including the families of Irish hunger strikers and
political prisoners.

In Ireland, where news of Quinn’s visit has rekindled discussion of New
York’s parade issue, Irish groups are both bemused and horrified by the
ongoing discrimination in the US-Irish community. Irish Queers has been
working with Ireland’s Gay & Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) to support
Speaker Quinn’s visit to Ireland. Through GLEN’s efforts, every political
party in Ireland has signed on in support of gay rights.

***************************************

Irish Queers, which evolved out of the Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization, is
active on immigrant justice, Northern Ireland self-determination,
anti-racism and other social justice issues.

***************************************
http://www.irishqueers.org/