Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people and straight allies will be allowed to show their true colors in Saturday’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade down Beale Street. At least 30 people will be carrying a 100-foot gay pride flag in the march. The parade kicks off at 3 p.m. at the corner of Fourth and Beale.
That’s in stark contrast to what happened at New York City’s Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day parade last Sunday. A gay group was barred from marching in that parade when they showed up wearing rainbow ribbon pins. According to the New York Daily News, the group was only allowed to march if they agreed not to carry any banner that “would violate Catholic doctrine.”
Members of the group contacted New York City Councilperson Christine Quinn to alert her of the discrimination, and when the group showed up at the march wearing pride ribbons, they were turned away. Quinn was also banned from marching in the parade.
“The told us we couldn’t march because we contacted Christine Quinn,” Gerard Mawn, a Staten Island Pride co-founder, told the New York Daily News. “I was stunned.” Mawn instead joined Quinn at an inclusive parade in Sunnyside, Queens.
Read more at the New York Daily News website.
