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Gay Groups Still Barred From Marching In Staten Island St. Patrick's Day Parade
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 20, 2020
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Mark Lennihan/AP/Shutterstock
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 20, 2020
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The organizers of Staten Island's St. Patrick's Day Parade still don't want gay groups marching on their sacred day, and so they'd really appreciate if everyone could quit asking if the enduring policy of exclusion is carrying over this year — which, in case you just found yourself wondering, is 2020 — because it is.
As has become something of an annual tradition, the Irish Catholic fraternal group that organizes the borough's main St. Pat's parade has reportedly rejected applications from local LGBTQ groups, including the Pride Center of Staten Island and the Gay Officer’s Action League.
Larry Cummings, parade president of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, took a stab at explaining his reasoning to the Staten Island Advance: "Here’s the deal, it’s a non-sexual identification parade and that’s that, no, they are not marching," he said. "Don’t try to keep asking a million friggin’ questions, OK? The fact of the matter is that’s what it is, OK? And that’s that.”
Cummings has previously said that allowing parade-goers to march under a gay bride banner "promotes the homosexual lifestyle” and conflicts with Catholic doctrine, according to Carol Bullock, director of the Pride Center of Staten Island.
Bullock, who has been unsuccessfully applying to the parade since 2011, attempted to sign up for a permit this weekend. But when she visited the parade committee's headquarters, NY1 reports, she says she encountered a sign reading: "Do [sic] to the threat of a protest by the gay pride people/politicians/and minsters [sic] of other faiths on the holy grounds of Blessed Sacrament Church the parade must move the parade sign ups to 300 Manor Rd."
She then traveled to the alternate location, where she says she was told, once again, no.
Several local elected officials, including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressmember Max Rose, have voiced their support for the pride center marching in the parade. One notable exception is the Archdiocese of New York, which told SI Advance that they won't be getting involved.
“These decisions are solely the responsibility of the various parade committees,” said Archdiocese spokesperson Joseph Zwilling.
The country's three largest St. Patrick's Day parades — in Manhattan, Chicago, and Boston — all permit LGBTQ groups to participate (though it took until 2015 for Manhattan to open up). Many other parades, including most in Ireland, have since gotten on board with inclusivity, leaving Staten Island in increasingly lonely territory.
Bullock, who has stopped short of calling for a boycott in the past, now says that those planning to participate should reconsider.
"Any organization who has applied, rethink marching that day," she told NY1. "Any organization who is thinking of applying, again, please rethink that decision."
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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