NY St. Patrick's parade walks alone in banning gay groups
When it comes to banning LGBT groups from marching as their own contingents, the St. Patrick’s Day parade now marches alone.
Until recent years, it was joined by the India Day Parade, the Celebrate Israel Parade, and the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade, with the annual lead-up to each celebration marked by a heated debate much like the one happening now.
In February 2010, the Lunar New Year Parade, which runs through the streets of Chinatown, changed its policy and welcomed gay and lesbian groups to march. They in turn asked Irish and Indian groups to walk alongside them, offering them a chance to do what they could not in their respective official celebrations.
That August, the India Day Parade, which marks the day India gained independence from Britain, invited members of the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA) to march down Madison Avenue. The parade committee had previously allowed them to participate in 2000, before reversing that decision. Then-City Council Speaker Christine Quinn walked with SALGA and told reporters, "Every time one of New York City's ethnic parades says yes to the LGBT community it makes it harder for the shrinking number of parades, like St. Patrick's Day, that have said no, to continue to say no."
Read More: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/NYC-St-Patricks-Day-Parade-falls-far-behind-others-on-LGBT-stance.html
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