It’s March yet again, meaning that St. Patrick’s Day is around the corner. And whether it’s truly a day for you to celebrate the fifth-century saint of snake-banishing fame, the Irish country and heritage, or just to enjoy some green food and a couple extra alcoholic beverages, the annual parades are often a highlight.
The Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns this year after COVID halted the tradition in 2021. Though, it’s not as cheery and festive as it might seem, as it’s the only St. Patrick’s Day parade in the New York metro area that refuses permission for LGBTQ groups to march; that tradition continues this year.
According to LGBTQ Nation, the 2022 application form declares, in all caps: “THIS PARADE IS NOT TO BE USED FOR AND WILL NOT ALLOW POLITICAL OR SEXUAL IDENTIFICATION AGENDAS TO BE PROMOTED.” The application also states that a group is only permitted to march if it “does not stand, in any way, in opposition to, or contradict, the Teachings and Tenets of the Catholic Church.”
The New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan was the last to have such a ban, though it ended in 2014 after two decades. In Staten Island, the restrictions seem like they could be tightening. Along with LGBTQ groups, individual people who have expressed LGBTQ association have also been banned from participating. Miss Staten Island, Madison L’Insalata, couldn’t march in 2020 because she came out as bisexual; Republican City Councilman Joseph Borelli was also barred from parade marshals for wearing a rainbow pin on his jacket.
“They physically blocked me, my wife and two boys in strollers,” Borelli told SI Live in 2020, “I didn’t come with it looking for an argument. My friends handed a pin to me. I really didn’t think it was a big affront to the Irish.”
Pride Center of Staten Island Executive Director Carol Bullock tried to march for years, met consistently with rejection, and this year was no different. The president of the parade committee, Larry Cummings, reportedly placed her application in the rejection pile immediately and did the same with applications from organizations supporting LGBTQ firefighters and officers.
Cummings reportedly told The Irish Voice in 2018 that the parade is “for Irish heritage and culture. It is not a political or sexual identification parade.”
Many officials, like Mayor Eric Adams and Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, refused to attend the Staten Island parade in protest of the stringent policies. However Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy expressed hope that the organizers will see the need for inclusion in these celebrations of cultural heritage and to allow LGBTQ community members to participate.
“Until that time, the mayor with not participate in the parade,” Levy says.
