Gays to be re-banned from New York St Patrick’s Day parade
LGBT groups are set to be re-banned from marching in next year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in New York – after a group was allowed to march for the first time this year.
The annual Catholic event – which attracts over a million tourists each year – has a long-held ban on allowing gay groups to march – but the 2014 parade faced a large commercial boycott over the exclusion of LGBT groups.
In 2015, the LGBT groups of one of the parade’s biggest sponsors, OUT@NBCUniversal, was allowed to march – but other groups remained banned.
However, the organisers have indicated the group is unlikely to be invited back, with the head of the parade indicating the ban on gay groups will be reinforced.
John Dunleavy, the chairman of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade, told Irish Central: “The parade itself is not there to promote anybody’s particular agenda in any way, shape or form.
“The parade represents our faith, our heritage and our culture, nothing more and nothing less. So we’re going to keep to that, and anybody who wants to mix that up is going to have a problem next year.”
A source close to the parade told Irish Voice: “This is all about the gay issue. It’s unfortunate that John Dunleavy just can’t let it go.”
