Politicians boycott Staten Island St Patrick’s Day parade over gay group’s exclusion

Several politicians in the New York borough of Staten Island boycotted the local St Patrick’s Day parade this weekend after a gay rights group was excluded from marching.

The Staten Island borough president James Oddo tweeted on Friday that he would not be marching in the parade, as the Pride Center of Staten Island had been blocked from participating.

“I wanted to, and thought I could reconcile my call for inclusion with still marching, but internally I cannot,” he wrote. “No disrespect is intended towards anyone, including colleagues who will march.”

Mr Oddo’s office represents and advocates for the borough in certain dealings with the New York City mayor’s office. Max Rose, a Democratic congressman representing New York’s 11th district, which includes all of Staten Island, also tweeted that he would not be marching.

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“I struggled with how to support our LGBTQ community while still honoring our Island’s rich Irish heritage, but for me I cannot march while the @pridecenterSI is still excluded.”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo also tweeted his support for the pride centre, writing that it was “way past time” that it be permitted to march in the Staten Island parade.

Alternative events

The Pride Center of Staten Island has not been allowed to participate in the march since 2011. Again, its request to march in the parade was turned down this year, according to a statement the organisation issued in recent weeks. Alternative events were organised by activists, while local businesses along the parade route also displayed signs supporting the pride centre.

The parade is organised by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. An online petition calling on the organisation to allow the Pride Center to participate in the march garnered more than 1,700 signatures.

Samantha Barry, the Cork-born editor of Glamour magazine, wrote on Twitter that the ban “is ludicrously bigoted and DOES NOT represent modern Ireland”.

Gay rights groups have been allowed to march in the main New York St Patrick’s Day parade since 2016. Irish and Irish-American activists had campaigned for inclusion for more than 20 years. Last year, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar marched alongside his partner, Matt Barrett, in the St Patrick’s Day parade on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

An email sent to the Ancient Order of Hibernians had not been responded to at the time of publication.