St. Pat's for All
It was established on March 5, 2000, and takes place in the Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, which traditionally have been home to Irish New Yorkers.
Fay's objective is to celebrate the diversity of New York City, guided by the motto "Cherishing All the Children of the Nation Equally," which originates from the Proclamation of the Irish Republic during the Easter Rising of 1916.
Their request was denied by the parade organizers, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), which cited time constraints and a long waitlist of 40 groups, including ILGO.
Eventually, an agreement was reached: ILGO would march alongside the Midtown Manhattan Chapter of AOH, but without displaying a banner or openly expressing their sexual orientation.
[8] In addition to protesting the parade's exclusion of gay and lesbian organizations, ILGO threatened to engage in civil disobedience as a response to permit rejection.
[12] In 1999, ILGO also protested the Bronx St. Patrick's Day Parade's exclusion of the Lavender and Green Alliance which resulted in the arrest of Duane, now a State Senator, and his successor in the City Council, Christine Quinn, among other activists.
[13] In 1995, the US Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision in the case of Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston,[7][9] which closely paralleled the situation faced by ILGO in their pursuit to participate in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
The court's ruling dealt a significant blow to ILGO by affirming the constitutional right of parade organizers to exclude gay marchers.
The decision upheld the organizers' freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment, with Justice David Souter emphasizing that parades should be regarded as a form of expression rather than mere movement.
Her proposal involved allowing LGBT organizations to participate in the parade, on the condition that they wore sashes or pins displaying their affiliations rather than carrying explicit self-identifying banners.
St. Pat's For All's main objective was to honor and embrace the diverse population of New York City, by embodying the motto "Cherishing All the Children of the Nation Equally," which originates from the proclamation of the Irish Republic during the Easter Rising of 1916.
[1] Chief Dark Cloud of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma performed a shamanic ritual to bless the parade, acknowledging Native-Irish ties and tribal aid donations during the Great Famine of Ireland.
Among the marchers were representatives from the Korean and Chilean communities, ILGO, Lavender and Green, Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee, SAGE, Dignity/New York, Queens Gays & Lesbians United, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, PFLAG's Queens chapter, Irish Arts Center, Emerald Isle Immigration Center, the Sunnyside Drum Corps, Father Mychal F. Judge of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan, and then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose presence created "massive publicity" for the parade.
[9] Over the years, St. Pat's For All has consistently gained momentum, drawing crowds from the local Queens community as it continues to welcome a diverse range of groups celebrating their Irish connections.
The African American community joined under the NAACP banner, acknowledging the strong ties between Frederick Douglass and Irish activists such as Daniel O'Connell during the nineteenth century.
One notable group, the "Keltic Dreamers," comprises local African-American and Latino children who showcase their love for Irish music and dance, embodying the parade's theme and spirit.
The Hibernians note that the parade's rule that only signs identifying a group's country, city, or fraternal organization, or placards that read “England Get Out of Ireland,” are permitted.
1992 - Mayor Dinkins, City Councilman Thomas Duane, and some 20 other elected officials boycott the St. Patrick's Day Parade due to the ban on LGBTQ groups.
The AOH argues that the event is essentially a private religious celebration and that allowing LGBTQ groups to march contradicts the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that homosexuality is a sin.
ILGO maintains that the parade is a secular public event and that the city's Human Rights Law prohibits the exclusion of groups based on the sexual orientation of their members.
Running for re-election, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani marches in the event and leads four groups – the police, the firefighters, the sanitation workers, and his Manhattan College alumni – while his Democratic rivals Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, and Reverend Al Sharpton boycott the event in solidarity with LGBTQ groups.
1999 - At the Bronx's first St. Patrick's Day Parade in 70 years, State Senator Thomas Duane, City Council Member Christine Quinn, and Brendan Fay, founder of the Lavender and Green Alliance, are arrested for protesting the event's ban of LGBTQ groups.
Public Advocate Mark Green, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, and City Comptroller Alan Hevesi all skip the event.
ILGO organizes a “sidelines protest,” holding placards honoring the LGBT “heroes of Sept. 11.” An estimated 300,000 people march in the parade, and 3,000,000 spectators line up along Fifth Avenue, breaking participation and attendance records.
2006 - City Council Speaker Christine Quinn boycotts the parade, as the event's organizers deny her request to wear a pride pin or sash.
