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NSFW Video: What Brave NYC Gays & Lesbians Endured At Early '90s St. Patrick's Day Parades
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 19, 2015
Modified Mar 19, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 19, 2015
Modified Mar 19, 2015
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This week, activist group Irish Queers raised serious objections to a single LGBTQ group, OUT NBC, being allowed in this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade after decades of rampant, unapologetic homophobia. They argued that the move was a ploy to paper over the parade's long history of discrimination, calling event organizers "Neanderthals" and "bigots." The early '90s might not seem that long ago, but it feels like it was a lifetime ago watching the clip below, taken from various home videos at the St. Patrick's Day Parades in 1991 and 1992.
The Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization (ILGO) in NYC had applied for entry into the 1991 parade and been refused. Instead, they were invited to march with Mayor David Dinkins as guests of a local division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH).
But as you'll see in the video, they were showered with a considerable amount of vicious verbal abuse (and some projectiles as well). In 1992, ILGO marched in protest, and were once again harassed and heckled.
For a very bitter reminder of just how bad it once was, and why groups like Irish Queers are so angry over the token-ism of allowing one LGBT group in this year, watch the video below, which includes clips from both the 1991 and 1992 marches.
Tagged
1990s
gay
homophobic
lgbt
st. patrick's day
st. patrick's day parade
original
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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