LGBT individuals who wish to celebrate their identity have, at this juncture, dozens (if not hundreds) of events every year in New York City designed for that purpose. However, the Staten Island St. Patricks’ Day Parade will once again not allow LGBT pride groups to march in the parade unde LGBT banners, and pride groups in New York are furious.
New York City’s Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has announced that he will boycott the parade in protest, and instead will visit the Rainbow Run — one of the aforementioned dozens of LGBT pride events that is running at literally the same time as the planned St. Patrick’s Day Parade — before attending a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Queens.
Carol Bullock, executive director of the Pride Center of Staten Island, claims that when the group attempted to submit an application, the situation turned confrontational. She claims that when a photographer from a local publication attempted to photograph the group submitting their application, the event’s organizer Larry Cummins physically pushed the photographer aside. Cummins did not respond to a request for comment from WCBS-TV.
In response, Jody’s Club Forest, which has hosted an annual local politician breakfast for three decades, has canceled its participation in the event. Owner Terence Haggerty told WCBS, “It’s always been about the parade and now it’s not about the parade.” In a statement released last month, organizers of the breakfast said they were canceling it “in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ groups excluded by the parade’s organizers.
An estimated 2 million people each year attend one of the various St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York City.