Monday, March 05, 2007

Day Not O'the Gay
Once again, gay people won't be able to march in this year's NYC Saint Patrick's Day parade. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will be flying to Ireland to march in a parade where gay people are allowed to march openly:
(New York City) New York City's second most powerful politician and a high profile Irish American group are sending a strong message to the organizers of the annual St Patrick's Day parade about their refusal to allow LGBT Irish groups to march.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has announced she is flying to Ireland to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin which does welcome gay marchers. The trip is being paid for by the Conference for American Ireland Relations.
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More than a decade ago a federal judge ruled that the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which organizes the annual parade down Fifth Avenue, could bar gay groups on the grounds of religious freedom.
The organization is tied to the Catholic Diocese of New York.

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The Hibernians have told members of the organization that they could march as individuals but not as a group, and could not wear any markers identifying themselves as gay.
Quinn said that in Dublin, where she will march with several other NYC City Council members and her father, she will wear a pink triangle and shamrock identifying her as gay.