Watching Ireland's gay marriage referendum from queer NYC

Photo: mashable.com

Along with the rest of the world, we're watching Ireland today for the marriage referendum. We're not big on marriage… gay marriage in the US has been used as a way to take apart the queer movement that sees gender, race, class, health care, housing, policing, and corporate power as all part of the same web.

But...

Ireland is another place.

• In Ireland, the campaigning around the referendum has turned up some really intense homophobia, and we hope today's vote shows a victory over that.
• Conservative religion and church power in Ireland have been challenged so importantly and beautifully in the past decade or so -- today's vote is another huge challenge, and that's unquestionably fabulous.
• The NO campaign has tried to portray African and other migrants in Ireland as religious, conservative, and homophobic in an ugly racist fashion that mirrors how Western churches have been pushing homophobic laws in African states. Migrants have spoken out against the NO campaign's racism, and against homophobia. Today's YES vote will turn that racism on its head, we hope.
• The YES campaign has been extremely white (not to mention full of images of queers as just regular folks, which is different in Ireland than here, but not so different...) We hope today's YES vote will make space for queers to be queer again, rather than normal.

 Good luck to Ireland from NYC Irish Queers.

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City Limits: Mayor de Blasio can do more than boycott

Exposing the parade organizers' sideways cuts at a religious "free speech" right to discrimination, and the NYPD and City Hall's wildly underreported support for the bigoted message of the parade... And calling on a mayor who has shown he cares about this issue to step all the way up to end the excuses.

Mayor must reckon with St. Patrick's Parade Legacies
3/2/15

http://citylimits.org/2015/03/02/op-ed-mayor-must-reckon-with-st-patricks-parade-legacies/

"De Blasio's boycott alone may not be enough to end the discrimination, but he has the authority to do even more. The question of how to deal with the anti-gay parade has long been muddied by a 1993 court case refiguring it as a private, anti-gay Catholic procession. The mayor's boycott of the parade obscures another problem: City Hall has long supported the parade organizers' exclusion of Irish LGBT groups, and it hasn't stopped yet. If negotiations are underway – the mayor hasn't acknowledged them, but media reports have – then it's time to set the record straight on these two legacies. And it's time for the mayor to take the additional steps he can."

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Irish & LGBTQ groups, elected officials renew boycott of 2015 parade (Press release)

Photo: @IvanPer4 (Ivan Pereira, AM-NY)

PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release

Date: Feb. 17, 2015

Contact:  Emmaia Gelman, 917-517-3627, irishqueers@gmail.com

BOYCOTT OF NYC ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE CONTINUES IN 2015

Irish and LGBTQ groups and elected officials reject parade’s discrimination; secret deal with OUT@NBC leaves in place the long-standing ban on Irish LGBTQ groups.

New York – Irish and LGBTQ community groups and elected officials today announced the renewed boycott of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2015. They pledged to uphold the boycott until Irish LGBTQ groups can march under their own banners on the same terms as other groups. Protests will also continue at the parade.

Last year, as the Mayor and the City Council joined the boycott and corporate sponsors withdrew, pressure mounted on the parade’s remaining sponsors, including NBC. In September, parade organizers revealed a backroom deal in which NBC's gay employee group, but no Irish LGBTQ groups, would be admitted to the parade in 2015.

Irish LGBTQ groups duly applied to march as well. In reply, parade organizers claimed there was “no room” for Irish LGBTQ groups in 2015, but they “could apply in future years.” But parade organizers now reiterate that Irish LGBTQ people can only march if they are not identifiable – in other words, as long as they remain invisible in the Irish community – and that no future end to the exclusion is planned. The ban on Irish LGBTQ groups remains in place, as it has since 1991.

“After 25 years of trickery and bigotry by the parade committee, no one is fooled when they say the parade is too short, or that Irish LGBTQ people just have to wait our turn behind NBC’s gay employees. They’ve always tried to sweep Irish LGBTQ people under the rug, rather than admit we’re part of the Irish community.” said J.F. Mulligan of Irish Queers. “The parade organizers haven’t suddenly stopped being anti-gay. They still seem terrified that Irish LGBTQ people exist and walk among them. They’ve tried to evade us by making this deal with a corporate gay group.”

"The Fifth Avenue St. Patrick's Day parade, unfortunately, remains non-inclusive,” said Council Member Daniel Dromm. “This has always been about including an Irish gay organization, not some corporate backed gay group.  Until the parade is truly representative of all Irish people, I don't believe anyone should march in it. New York must do what is done in Ireland and allow Irish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to participate. It's just that simple.”

“We've boycotted the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Manhattan for a simple reason: refusing to allow Irish LGBT New Yorkers to celebrate their heritage and their identity by marching in the parade is discriminatory,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “Almost all New Yorkers know that continued exclusion of Irish LGBT New York organizations from the parade is wrong. This longstanding struggle isn't solved by cloaking a little-known LGBT group under a quasi-corporate banner.”

“People who support equality must not accept anything less then full, open participation for members of the Irish LGBT community,” said Allen Roskoff, President of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club. “Full equality means participating as identifiable and proud members of the Irish LGBT community. The days of denying our existence by exclusion in the St Patrick’s Day Parade are over. This is not the time for acceptance of a gesture which is hollow, discriminatory and insulting. One must never compromise to bigotry." 

"We will never march in a parade that is not fully open and inclusive of all New Yorkers. Homophobia fuels the AIDS epidemic. It isn't just a personal opinion when it's on display for millions of New Yorkers to witness. NYC has to stop rolling out the welcome wagon for bigots. This public policy – which is what it is – is wrong. The parade should be inclusive or it shouldn't exist," said Jennifer Flynn of VOCAL-NY.

###

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Irish/queer communities to Mayor & NYC Council Speaker: the ban is not lifted, keep the pressure on!

Mayor deBlasio & Speaker Mark-Viverito:
Keep up the boycott of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade until Irish LGBTQ groups can march under their own banner.

Oct. 9, 2014

Dear Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito,

Last year, your public boycott of the anti-gay NYC St. Patrick's Day parade finally paved the way for corporate sponsors to drop the parade. Their departure created pressure on NBC, one of the last remaining sponsors and the broadcaster of the parade, who put pressure on the parade organizers to finally end their ban on Irish LGBTQ groups.

Instead of that pressure leading to Irish LGBTQ groups taking their rightful place in the community's parade, OUT@NBCUniversal has jumped into the space it created. OUT@NBCUniversal is the gay employee/marketing group of the parade's sponsor. The Irish LGBTQ community is still excluded from the parade. The “lifting of the ban” is a sham.

Parade organizers have said that Irish LGBTQ groups may “apply” to march in future St. Patrick’s Day Parades from 2016 on, claiming that there is no room for another group in 2015. This is the same ruse they used in 1991 when they wanted to exclude the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization. When Mayor Dinkins called their bluff and offered to expand the march to allow ILGO in, the organizers came out in the open with their anti-gay reasons for excluding them. This year, when Irish LGBTQ groups applied, parade organizers quickly declared that applications were closed. In the fallout from this gay-panic response, the Catholic League also dropped out of the 2015 march, leaving the parade short of one large contingent. As before, parade organizers simply refuse to let Irish LGBTQ groups march in the newly-opened space.

State and national LGBTQ advocacy groups, as well as groups in Ireland, are supporting the demand for Irish LGBTQ groups to march openly and freely, rather than seeking to march themselves or supporting OUT@NBCUniversal's participation.

Irish LGBTQ groups have also asked OUT@NBCUniversal to withdraw from the parade until Irish LGBTQ groups are part of the parade.

We write to ask that you continue to publicly boycott the parade until Irish LGBTQ groups are accepted into the line of march, and march openly, as full and respected members of the Irish American community.

Because the parade organizers have made misleading claims like “gays are welcome to march, just not to be identified” and now “the ban is lifted, but only for NBC employees”, it's important to be clear about what constitutes inclusion. Irish LGBTQ groups must be able to march just like other contingents: with the group name on a banner identifying the contingent as Irish LGBTQ people. Last year in Boston, parade organizers tried to negotiate with an LGBTQ contingent to march under the word “equality.” But the organizers refused to allow a banner to say “LGBT” or “gay”, as if those were dirty words. So the LGBTQ group rightly declared that parade organizers were not actually willing to lift the ban, and they refused to march. New York City also cannot accept such pretenses at inclusion.

We deeply appreciate your support. Please be in touch with your response, or if we can answer any questions.

Sincerely,

Gaby Cryan, Emmaia Gelman, & J.F. Mulligan

Irish Queers

Kate Barnhart, Executive Director           

New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth

Mary E. Bartholomew, Esq.

Sandy Boyer

Rev. Pat Bumgardner

Metropolitan Community Church - NY

Suzy Byrne

Leslie Cagan

Kailin Callaghan, Lead Organizer

Rockaway Wildfire

Fidelma Carolan, Regional Officer (N. Ireland)

UNISON

Kelly Cogswell, Author of Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger

Michael Czaczkes, President

Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn

Kara Davis, Queer Activist

Bill Dobbs, Gay Civil Libertarian

Erin M. Drinkwater, Executive Director

Brooklyn Community Pride Center

Ronnie Eldridge, Former New York City Councilmember

Jennifer Flynn, Executive Director

VOCAL-NY

Kathleen Gaul

Community Leader at TUSLA, Ireland

Emily Jane Goodman, New York State Supreme Court Justice, Ret.

Marie Honan

Tony Hoffmann, President, Village Independent Democrats*

Stephanie Hsu, Secretary

New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA)

Andy Humm and Ann Northrop, Co-Hosts

Gay USA

Esther Kaplan

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz

Marjorie Dove Kent, Executive Director

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice

SL Korn, Queer Activist

Gareth Lee,

Queer Space Collective Belfast

Bertha Lewis, Executive Director

Black Institute

Mark Libkuman, Open Flows Community Technology Cooperative

Scott Long, Human Rights Activist

Amanda Lugg, Director of Advocacy

African Services Committee

Alan Levine, Civil Rights Attorney

Father Bernárd Lynch, London, Chair of Camden LGBT Forum

Anne Maguire, ILGO

Eileen Markey, Writer

Malachy McCourt

Lucy McDiarmid

Matthew McMorrow, Manager of Government Affairs

Empire State Pride Agenda

Zenaida Mendez, President

National Organization for Women-NYS

Megan Mulholland

QUEEROCRACY

Dr Tina O'Toole, Founder member of LINC Cork

University of Limerick, Ireland

Pauline Park, Executive Director

Queens Pride House

Edward Pass

Allen Roskoff, President

Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club

Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities, City University of New York-College of Staten Island

Arthur Z. Schwartz, President of Advocates for Justice and Democratic District Leader for Greenwich Village

Tom Shanahan, Civil Rights Attorney

Ailbhe Smyth, LGBT Rights Campaigner
Former Head of Women's Studies and Senior Lecturer, University College Dublin (UCD)

Brad Taylor

Zephyr Teachout, former candidate for Governor, Professor Fordham Law School, and author of Corruption in America

Jay Toole

Jay’s House

Andy Velez

John Voelcker

Urvashi Vaid, Senior Fellow, Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, Columbia Law School*

Maxine Wolfe, Professor Emerita, City University Graduate School

Joan Wile, Author, and Founder, Grandmothers Against the War

Tim Wu, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor/Professor Columbia Law School

Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel

Lesbian Herstory Archive

MIX NYC: Queer Experimental Film Festival

Queer Nation NY

*Asterisk indicates organization listed for identification purposes only.

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Lawsuit challenging NYPD & FDNY on bigoted St. Patrick's parade

The LGBTQ protest of the homophobic, religious right NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade made big progress this year. The boycott made international headlines, and major sponsors dropped out.

But incredibly, the NYPD and FDNY still insist they have a “right” to join in with the homophobia, as if anti-discrimination laws (and the Constitution) are just a suggestion.

So we’re taking it to court. We’re bringing a lawsuit arguing that the NYPD and FDNY are sending a message that LGBTQ New Yorkers’ rights, safety, and inclusion really don’t matter to them, and our communities can’t rely on them. We’ll ask the court to make the City follow its own anti-discrimination laws and the Constitution.

We hope that challenging anti-LGBTQ bias in particular will help create the environment of accountability around NYPD and FDNY discrimination more broadly.

For information or to join the lawsuit:

irishqueers@gmail.com or (917) 517-3627.

------

Here's what the lawsuit will say:

• LGBTQ New Yorkers are supposed to have fair and equitable access to public services, including policing (suspend your critique of policing generally, for a second.)
• The NYPD's official participation in the explicitly religious right/homophobic NYC St. Patrick's Day parade tells the LGBTQ community that the NYPD, the FDNY, and the City are (still) not interested in our community's rights and safety, and that the NYPD is "more oppressor than protector" to the LGBTQ community, in the words of a federal appeals court.
• This bias denies LGBTQ people equal access to the services of the NYPD.

Here's what we hope the lawsuit, and the political organizing around it, will accomplish:

• Force the City (NYPD, FDNY, etc) to disassociate itself from the bigoted parade, and possibly force a change that takes the lucrative event away from the bigoted power brokers who run it now.
• Pose a serious and highly public challenge to the NYPD’s and FDNY’s bias and homophobia, and the permissive attitude of the City toward that bias.
• Weaken the power of the religious right in NYC (which is also currently challenging secular control of city schools.)

What does "joining the lawsuit" actually mean?

It means adding your name to the court document. The court document will make a claim about how NYPD homophobia (as expressed when thousands of uniformed cops march in a huge bigoted parade) affects the community in general, and you as an example. This lawsuit will not ask the NYPD to pay money for the harm it has caused.

Who can join?

• NYC residents who identify as LGBTQ
• including people who have not had direct experience of biased policing
• including people who have had direct experience of biased policing
• including people who are citizens, residents, green card holders, etc.
• NYC organizations who represent or serve LGBTQ people

Who should not join?

• People who don't live in NYC or aren't LGBTQ (because of the specific requirements of law -- not because we don't love you.)
• People who might have a problem with their legal residency status, outstanding warrants, or other issue that might be complicated if your name appears in a court document.

How much money will it cost you?

NONE. Our fabulous attorney and legal team are working pro bono (for free). We’ll be planning some fabulous community fundraising events to pay for court costs.

How much of my time will it take?

Not much, unless you want to pitch in with the organizing. We will be doing political and media organizing around the lawsuit, and you are welcome to join in that or not.

When we meet, the legal team will need to get a short statement from you about how NYPD and FDNY participation in the homophobic parade affects you.

Our lawyer says:

It's possible you would be asked to give testimony at a deposition (that is testifying, under oath, in a lawyer’s office, with a court reporter transcribing your testimony.)  The process would take a few hours of preparation with the lawyer and up to seven hours (although usually less) at the deposition. Questioning would be about the subject matter of the lawsuit.

There may be times when it makes sense for us to show up in court, and for LGBTQ community members to testify about how the NYPD and FDNY participation affects them, if the lawsuit goes to trial. We'll need some folks to do that, but it's also absolutely fine if some of us cannot.

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O HIJINKS! Bill Donohue can march in NYC Pride - but does he want to?

File under hilarious unintended consequences (Irish Queers' or Bill Donohue's, take your pick.) Right-Catholic bigot Bill Donohue has applied to march in Pride. Unfortunately for him, NYC Pride organizers said "sure!" Now he's stuck with it -- although apparently he hasn't actually registered yet and is trying to wiggle out. Major kudos to Heritage of Pride for rolling with the punches.

Below are the news clips from March 20 and 21, 2014.

Your Irish-and-queer-but-not-Catholic blogger has to admit that she never heard Bill Donohue speak until these recordings made the rounds, although he's said plenty of similar stuff in print. But heavens to Betsy! The man sounds like he needs a Guinness and some downers. OMG, I really, really hope he marches in Pride.

----

[VIDEO] Donohue: Gay Pride Putting Up Blocks to Stop Me Marching

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/donohue-gay-pride-blocks/2014/03/20/id/560846/

Donohue believes NYC Pride is fearful that Catholic League supporters could overwhelm the Gay Pride Parade, which is held on the last weekend in June.

"What if instead of getting 100 people, what if I get 3,000 people? What if we begin to overwhelm their parade and veto their message. They know what's at stake," he said.

"They had a chance already to unequivocally answer me, and they're not doing that. They're dancing on the head of a lawyer's pin. We'll find out."

Donohue insisted the controversy surrounding the St. Patrick's Day Parade is not being promoted by all gays, but rather an elite group of high-powered liberals with an agenda.

"There's not enough gays that they lined up single file to pull off this nonsense, it's supported by the tony corporate boys and girls at Guinness … and the Georgetown people, Park Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, Hollywood people," he said.

Guinness, along with fellow brewers Heineken and Samuel Adams, pulled out of sponsorship of the St. Patrick's Day Parade because of organizers' refusal to allow gays to march under their own banner. Donohue says he will boycott the beers.

"You know who I'm talking about, the elite. It's the cultural elite," said Donohue. "They think it's chic to be involved with gay rights causes.... [They] crossed the line on this one. All we want to do is have a St. Patrick's Day parade which honors St. Patrick's and you want to crash it with your own agenda.

Bill Donahue wants to ruin New York City’s LGBT pride parade by participating in it

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/20/bill-donahue-wants-to-ruin-new-york-citys-lgbt-pride-parade-by-participating-in-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+(The+Raw+Story)

Catholic League's Bill Donohue Seems a Little Nervous About Actually Marching in the Gay Pride Parade

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/03/bill_donohue_gay_pride_lgbt_march_catholic_league_gay_training_sessions.php

[VIDEO & AUDIO which btw sounds like Donohue is about to blow a gasket] Why NYC's Gay Pride Parade Is Letting This Guy March Under a "Straight Is Great" Banner

http://www.policymic.com/articles/85815/why-nyc-s-gay-pride-parade-is-letting-this-guy-march-under-a-straight-is-great-banner

Pride parade welcomes Catholic League's Donohue's request to march

http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/pride-parade-welcomes-catholic-league-s-donohue-s-request-to-march-1.7455814

Bill Donohue, Catholic League Leader, Invited To March In The 2014 NYC Pride Parade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/20/bill-donohue_n_4999802.html

Anti-Gay Catholic Leader Trying To Slip Out Of Agreement To March In Gay Pride Parade?

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/anti-gay-catholic-leader-trying-to-slip-out-of-agreement-to-march-in-gay-pride-parade/news/2014/03/21/84632?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNewCivilRightsMovement+(The+New+Civil+Rights+Movement)

Anti-Gay Catholic Leader Trying To Slip Out Of Agreement To March In Gay Pride Parade?

Falsely Claims NYC Pride ‘Trying To Impose Their Agenda’ On His ‘Straight Is Great’ Marchers

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/anti-gay-catholic-leader-trying-to-slip-out-of-agreement-to-march-in-gay-pride-parade/news/2014/03/21/84632?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNewCivilRightsMovement+(The+New+Civil+Rights+Movement)

Bill Donohue is the head of the highly-profitable Catholic League. From his office suite that adjoins the New York Archdiocese headquarters, Bill Donohue sits, waits, and then attacks. He attacks same-sex marriage and its supporters. He attacks women’s reproductive rights and its supporters. He attacks those who oppose the church’s handling of its pedophile priests. And he attacks any social issue that might challenge the authority or positions of the Roman Catholic Church.

And for that, Bill Donohue makes $407,000 a year.

His Catholic League is rated just two out of four stars by Charity Navigator. Of the $3.7 million Donohue’s Catholic League — which many believe is just Donohue and a secretary or two — took in during 2012, a whopping 23.4% went to administrative costs, and another whopping 22% went to fundraising.

So why are we telling you all this?

Because Bill Donohue is a blowhard and a coward.

This week, Donohue went ballistic, after learning that Guinness beer pulled its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade over the parade’s anti-gay policies. Being an Irish Catholic, no doubt the parade is near and dear to Bill’s heart, but apparently the free market system is allowed to go just so far for Donohue.

He launched a boycott of Guinness, which he said was acting “like a corporate bully.”

So in retaliation, and no doubt trying to find discrimination, Donohue made a big stink about trying to get into the New York City gay pride parade. He demanded organizers allow him to march under a “Straight is Great” banner.

Much to Donohue’s surprise, they did — immediately.

Hours later, the head of GLAAD asked to march with him. Turns out, Sarah Kate Ellis is “a fellow Irish New Yorker.”

Now, in a cowardly and hypocritical way, Donohue is trying to claim organizers are stalling and trying to block him, so he can wiggle out of marching in the parade.

The problem, for Donohue, is that they’re not.

“Their initial response was okay, you have to come to a training session,” Donohue said in an interview yesterday with NewsMax TV. “People have to wear LGBT paraphernalia … Now they are dancing. They are saying, well … we have our own rules and what not,” Donohue is claiming.

“Quite frankly as a straight guy, I don’t go to gay training sessions,” Donohue said. “I’m pretty much of an untrainable guy when it comes these things.”

“I said, look I want to be clear, can I march with my banner ‘Straight is Great?’ My members will wear t-shirts ‘Straight is Great’ – I’m waiting for the final answer.”

“Before I attend your training sessions, I just want to know … They’re not giving me an unequivocal answer.”

In this video, Donohue admits his entire reason for wanting to march is to make up his own rules. Now that he’s done so, and they’ve been accepted, he is twisting the organizers’ response:

[VIDEO]

Well, that’s totally false, according to the NYC Pride organizers.

The New Civil Rights Movement reached out to the official organizers of NYC Pride, Heritage of Pride, Inc.

Here’s what they said to us, via email:

We require all March registrants to have group leaders attend an event operations training. This is for the safety for our participants. The requirement is not unique to Mr. Donohue.

Mr. Donohue sought prior approval on his group’s slogan, “Straight is Great.” We acknowledged his message and said the text was fine. At no point have we instructed Mr. Donohue as to what must be printed on his group’s shirts. The NYC Pride March Rules & FAQs sheet can be found here (as public on our website):

http://www.nycpride.org/uploads/2013NYCPrideMarch-Rules&FAQs.pdf

As of [this] writing, neither Mr. Donohue nor the Catholic League have submitted registration for the 2014 NYC Pride March.

So, a safety training class to Bill Donohue is “gay training.”

He got his “final answer” immediately, and he knows it — as does everyone else who’s been following the news.

NYC Pride clearly did not state that he or his group “have to wear LGBT paraphernalia,” nor does their four-page list of rules address attire, with the exception of noting nudity below the waist is illegal in New York City.

Donohue is a fraud, a coward, and a blowhard.

Frankly, this latest stunt is an embarrassment to the Catholic Community he claims to represent and defend, and they should tell him to stop speaking for them.

If Bill Donohue — whose anti-gay views, comments, and attacks are beyond ugly — demands to be allowed to march in the NYC gay pride parade, and he’s welcomed, he should follow through, or be held up as a coward too afraid to walk the streets of New York with LGBT people by his side.

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Scott Lively shines some reality on St Patrick's parades

This is it, folks. The crossover is complete. After filtering out Irish LGBT groups and other Irish groups whose "message" the parade organizers don't like, and after making these cherished old Irish parades "private" and "Catholic" and all about military men and their gritted-teeth-smiling wives, the jig is up. These are the dregs. All that remains is the swill of homophobia and murderous religious-right.

He's done with Uganda and Nigeria, and now to attend to the business of destroying the lives, communities, and families of queers at home. Scott Lively is welcomed by the keep-the-gays-out movement of St. Patrick's Day parades. Why not? He's one of them.

Governor candidate and anti-gay activist Scott Lively marches in Boston St. Patrick's Parade

Pastor Scott Lively (center) enters U.S. District Courthouse in Springfield in this past photograph. (John Suchocki / The Republican)

By The Republican Newsroom 
on March 16, 2014 at 6:51 PM, updated March 16, 2014 at 7:01 PM

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BOSTON – Springfield-based anti-gay minister Scott Lively announced he proudly marched in Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day which many politicians skipped because parade organizers have banned gay, bisexual and lesbian groups. 

Lively, a Shelburne Falls native who owns the Holy Grounds coffee shop in Springfield, is running as a independent candidate for governor. He said he marched with his new running mate Shelly Saunders, of Springfield, and a small contingent of supporters. 

Many other politicians, including Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Congressman Stephen Lynch, skipped the parade after they could not come to an agreement with organizers to allow gays and lesbians to march in the parade. The maker of Sam Adams beer also withdrew his support. 

“The LGBT bullies, including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, are giving the St. Paddy’s Day Parade organizers a hard time for keeping the parade a family-friendly event, but they are standing strong for family values and not bowing to intimidation,” Lively said in a press release. 

“The media is predictably crying ’discrimination,’ but thank God the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the parade organizers have the constitutional right to exclude anyone they please,” he said in writing. 

Lively said he was marching to represent all the voters who believe in “authentic marriage and the Biblical model of family.” 

Lively is no stranger to controversy. His crusade against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has taken him around the world and most recently to federal court. Based on his anti-gay talks in Uganda, where the anti-gay movement pushed a bill to passage that criminalizes homosexuality, Lively is accused of crimes against humanity in a lawsuit filed by human rights groups Sexual Minorities Uganda and New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. 

He also recently defended reality show “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson’s who compared homosexuality to bestiality. 

He jumped into the 2014 Massachusetts governor’s race this fall as an independent candidate to “unapologetically articulate Biblical values without fear or compromise.“ 

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3/17 statement from Irish Queers

STATEMENT FROM IRISH QUEERS

PROTEST @ NYC ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

MARCH 17, 2014

 

We are encouraged and happy that Heineken and Guinness have just dropped their sponsorship of the NYC St Patrick's Day parade because of the parade’s unapologetic homophobia. The hatred represented by this parade has gotten clearer and more untenable every year for more than two decades.

 

Those who still stand with the parade are making a clear choice to endorse bigotry. That includes Ford Motors, NBC, Fordham University – and the NYPD. It’s incredible that the whole world is decrying the homophobia of the parade, but New York’s police and fire departments still think it’s somehow okay to march in uniformed, official contingents of thousands of officers. It’s tragic that beer companies have a stronger moral compass than the NYPD.

 

There’s pressure on other sponsors to do the right thing before next year’s parade. When sponsors finally stop paying for religious-right homophobia, the parade can go back to being Irish and including the rich diversity of the Irish American community.

 

That will be a day to celebrate, and we want to be clear that we won’t accept anything less. We’ll be challenging the homophobes who have hijacked our parade until Irish LGBT groups can march up Fifth Avenue behind a banner just like everyone else. Like our friends in Boston, we won’t be cutting any deals about leaving out words like “gay” or “lesbian” or “transgender.” We’ll join the parade as Irish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, without reservation. And we’ll insist that the parade be open to all of Ireland’s diversity, from religion to color to culture.

 

Until that day, Irish Queers is here protesting the NYPD’s participation in this bigoted parade. We’re joined by groups of people of color, homeless folks, and queer youth – just a few of the New York communities made unsafe by biased policing. Commissioner Bratton’s disregard for LGBT New Yorkers at this parade tells all of our communities that anti-discrimination laws won’t protect us from the NYPD. We may have a new Mayor who’s interested in reform, but his police commissioner is bringing ugly back.

 

We need the Mayor to require Commission Bratton to do better on respectful policing, before more damage is done. It would be sad and embarrassing if the LGBT community had to sue the City to uphold its own anti-discrimination law, but we will if we have to.

 

We extend a special St. Patrick’s Day welcome to the queer community in Ireland, and the Irish government ministers and TDs who have firmly and publicly told the NYC parade organizers that homophobia isn’t Irish culture. Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Irish Queers.

 

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HUGE: Guinness drops antigay St Patrick's parade!

Guinness' statement:

"Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all. We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year’s parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy."

http://www.glaad.org/blog/guinness-drops-sponsorship-anti-lgbt-nyc-st-patricks-day-parade

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Irish Times: Why the Taoiseach should not join the St Patrick’s Day parade

And thank you.
***

Why the Taoiseach should not join the St Patrick’s Day parade
Fintan O'Toole

Last year, Enda Kenny declared in the Dáil that he was “proud to stand here as a public representative, a Taoiseach who happens to be a Catholic but not a Catholic Taoiseach. A Taoiseach for all of the people, that’s my job”. It is indeed. And if he is serious about doing that job he will explain next week, courteously but firmly, why he can’t march in New York’s St Patrick’s Day parade. He will join the city’s mayor Bill de Blasio in declining to march while gay and lesbian Irish people are refused the same opportunity. In doing so he will make a momentous statement about what it means to be Irish. The Taoiseach told the Dáil on February 18th that he would be “happy” to march in New York because “the St Patrick’s Day parade is a parade about our Irishness, not sexuality”. He is wrong on both counts. The ban on the Irish Gay and Lesbian Organization (ILGO) is, of course, about their sexuality: they’re not banned because they drink the wrong beer or follow the wrong football team. Just as significantly, though, the parade is emphatically not about “our Irishness”. Our Irishness, if “our” has any meaning in this context, is pluralist and non-sectarian. A taoiseach “for all the people” surely understands that the people are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, atheist and 100 shades of belief and non- belief.

Exclusive

The St Patrick’s Day parade in New York is explicitly and exclusively Catholic. This is not a value judgment. It is a fact. It is held “in honour of the patron saint of Ireland and the archdiocese of New York”.

It is preceded by Mass in St Patrick’s Catholic cathedral and then reviewed from the steps of the cathedral by the serving archbishop, currently Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The issue of gay and lesbian marchers is utterly intertwined with the religious nature of the parade.

The decision to ban ILGO was made on the grounds that the parade’s then organiser, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), is a Catholic organisation and could therefore exclude any group or person “whose purposes, principles or agenda are inconsistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church”.

Banned

Although the AOH no longer formally or- ganises the parade (fear of legal action led to the creation of a committee headed by John Dunleavy, who is acknowledged to be close to Cardinal Dolan), these are still the grounds on which ILGO is banned.

In argument before the New York city human rights commission, the parade organisers insisted the ban was legitimate precisely because “the parade is a celebration of Irish Roman Catholic heritage”.

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"They allege that among the unwritten requirements for inclusion in the parade is that no group admitted have a political agenda or an agenda contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. They argue ILGO advocates the right to pursue a homosexual lifestyle and is thus in violation of church doctrine."

In arguing (successfully) for the ban before the US federal court, the organisers claimed “the right to associate merely with those who adhere to any one element of Irish heritage, such as Catholicism”.

In itself, this is fine: US law protects the right to free expression of people who hold such views, even if they offend others. The organisers of the New York parade are entitled to run an event in which they “associate merely” with “one element” of Irishness. What they are not entitled to do is to then claim that this “one element” is Irishness itself. It isn’t. Most Irish people are not conservative Catholics. Most Irish Catholics believe things – about contraception, divorce, abortion and gay rights — that are contrary to Catholic doctrine.

And – here’s a thing that is almost always forgotten – most Irish-Americans are Protestant. The Taoiseach is profoundly mistaken: the parade is not about “our Irishness”. It is not even about Irish-American heritage. It is quite explicitly a celebration and endorsement of the Catholic archdiocese of New York and of the doctrinally orthodox Catholic “element of Irish heritage”.

The distinguished conservative Irish- American historian John McCarthy, who argues strongly in favour of the ban on ILGO, was usefully blunt about this in a recent letter to The Irish Times . He compared the parade to a Corpus Christi procession and said this allowed the organisers the “right to control what groups can march in it, as well as to assert the distinctly Catholic character of the event”. This is entirely fair and also the best summary of why the taoiseach of a pluralist, non-sectarian democracy has no business marching in a religious procession posing as a celebration of Irish identity.

Spotlight

Kenny has made some real progress in ending precisely the identification the organisers of the parade want to maintain, of Irishness with monolithic Catholicism. On St Patrick’s Day, the international spotlight will be on Ireland and he will have to make a statement about what he understands “our Irishness” to be. He must not tell those who think of it as diverse, open and inclusive to take a walk.

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Protest NYPD homophobia 3/17 - keep the pressure on!

Join us in protesting at the 5th Ave St. Patrick's Day parade. 

Monday, March 17th, 10:30-12:30, between 56th & 57th St on the West side of 5th Ave

We'll have banners, hot beverages, and snacks. Please RSVP if you can, by clicking here!

This is a  peaceful but difficult protest, so it really helps to know if we can count on you to be there. Call (917) 517-3627 to reach us on the day of the protest.

Click here to sign the petition to Commissioner Bratton: demand that the NYPD & the City follow their own anti-discrimination policies, instead of trying to get around them with "free speech" arguments.

Commissioner Bratton and the NYPD must seriously grapple with their racism and homophobia. The St. Patrick's Day parade is one way to call attention to recent policies and unresponsiveness to NYC communities -- including policies that criminalize the homeless and continue racist policing tactics. 

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Typo? NYC 'phobes claim Cuomo is joining them. (He's not.)

The NYC St. Patrick's Day parade committee are the guys who tightly control every inch of Fifth Avenue, ripping political stickers off of marchers' jackets, judging any indication of non-straightness a political act of treason against St. Patrick, and making sure no one chews gum lest they get stood in the corner till recess.

Although they're apparently not embarrassed by their raging bigotry, they've been embarrassed every year by a massive boycott of the parade. Most New York politicians wouldn't touch the St. Patrick's Day parade with a 10 foot prod.

This year, having finally lost the Mayor and the City Council to the boycott, it seems they thought they'd scored the Governor. They published the 2014 Line of March with Gov. Cuomo not far behind NYPD Commissioner Bratton.

http://nycstpatricksparade.org/parade-information.html on 3/10/14

Either the NYC St. Patrick's parade committe were lying about having secured Cuomo's participation, or they were very, very sadly mistaken. The Governor boycotts the parade.

We think they owe him an apology for implying he would trample the rights of New Yorkers in their "religious freedom"-based march of bigotry.

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Solidarity with Nigerian LGBTs/human rights... plus, new email scam.

In solidarity with the global protest today against Nigeria's anti-gay law…This wave of legislation is such a postcolonial mess. Let's take our cues from activists across Africa directly. Here's one such source with connections to more.
http://www.genderjustice.org.za/
http://www.genderjustice.org.za/updates/highlights/2001514-african-groups-call-for-the-african-union-to-urgently-respond-to-gender-and-sexuality-rights-violations-in-africa-and-particularly-to-anti-gay-laws-recently-passed-in-uganda-and-nigeria.html

On that note, a seemingly scam fundraising letter is already going around, so a reminder to do your due diligence when supporting causes so that your $ goes to people really doing the work of justice.

Fresh new email scam...
>From: African Center for Gay & Lesbian Human RIghts
>Re: Request to raise funds for a noble cause
>Dear Sir,
>It is our mission to promote Gay/Lesbianism globally...Without the assistance of community minded individuals just like you,we wouldn't be able to serve and promote our activities. We ask that you make a commitment to support our forth-coming programe and publication of our magazine appeal by making a cash donation.

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Gay City News challenges de Blasio: There's no NYPD "right" to homophobia

Is it wrong to crush out on your community newspaper?! Hope Gay City News doesn't mind, but we're pasting this one in its entirety.

In St. Pat’s Dispute, Free Speech is Not the Issue

BY PAUL SCHINDLER | If you work for a major bank or retailer or airline, it’s more likely than not that you have to get corporate approval before identifying yourself as an employee while participating in a public event. That sort of approval would typically be required, for example, if you and a group of fellow workers wanted to carry a banner with your employer’s logo on it in a parade.

In many cases, that’s not a problem. Corporations welcome opportunities for branding themselves in a wide array of public settings they view as favorable marketing opportunities. The annual LGBT Pride Parade down Fifth Avenue has, in fact, become a riot of corporate logos and colors, with runners stuffing branded tchotchkes into the hands of often unsuspecting spectators. Corporate America, for the most part, loves to create customer loyalty within the LGBT community.

Employers, however, won’t approve the use of their name or logo in every event. Employee groups would encounter trouble winning approval for identifying themselves at demonstrations over controversial issues — say, abortion rights — whether it was a pro-choice or an anti-choice message the event was promoting. Corporations see little downside today in standing with the gay community, but most see reproductive freedom as an issue that still splinters public opinion. There is no clear winner in that debate from the marketing perspective of most businesses.

Approval would almost certainly be denied if an event were widely deemed as unpopular or patently offensive. It’s hard to imagine any major business allowing its name to be used in a march promoting bigoted or racist views.

Nobody would argue that, in denying their employees the authority to use their corporate identification or logo in a public event, a company was impinging on the free speech rights of their workers. Employers likely — and rightly — have little or no ability to control the right of their workers, on their own time, to participate in even offensive public events, but they can certainly control what events their corporate names are drawn into.

All of this is relevant because Mayor Bill de Blasio, in saying city workers have the right to march in uniform in the discriminatory March 17 St. Patrick’s Day Parade and that he “absolutely respect[s]” the decision by Police Commissioner William Bratton to do the same, suggests that the right to free speech or free expression is somehow at issue here.

It’s not, and the mayor should know that.

“The NYPD has a strong interest in controlling the use of its symbols, including its uniform. When an officer marches in uniform with a particular group, the clearest message sent to the public is that the NYPD –– not the particular officer –– approves of that group.” –– 1999 brief filed by the City of New York in the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals

The right of the parade’s organizers to deny participation by openly LGBT groups — to discriminate against them — has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. The parade is deemed a private event — even if one facilitated by significant public safety resources — and so its organizers have the right to control its message.

The city, however, bound by its human rights law, does not have the right to lend its authority and stamp of approval to that discrimination. And it does have the right to determine when its workers can use their uniforms and other symbols of their employment in public settings.

The city, in fact, has made precisely that argument in a federal appeals court. In a 1999 brief filed with the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving police marching in uniform and with an identifying banner, the city argued, “As a quasi-military organization, the NYPD has a strong interest in controlling the use of its symbols, including its uniform. When an officer marches in uniform with a particular group, the clearest message sent to the public is that the NYPD — not the particular officer — approves of that group. If members insisted on the right to march in uniform with the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazi Party, the NYPD’s credibility with the community would be seriously undermined and its ability to perform its mission irreparably damaged.”

That’s the nut of the argument made by several hundred LGBT activists and their allies in a February 3 letter to de Blasio — that in co-signing the discriminatory practices of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, uniformed city employees, the bulk of them police officers and fire fighters, are compromising the clear message of equal treatment under the law that LGBT New Yorkers, like all their fellow citizens, deserve to hear.

De Blasio has been widely and rightly praised for being the first mayor since David Dinkins to refuse to himself march in the parade. It’s unfortunate, however, that he has chosen to obfuscate the bigger issue at hand. As mayor, he has the potential to forge an historic breakthrough in the city’s sad St. Patrick’s Day history by insisting that the parade organizers either end their bigoted practices or risk losing the colorful participation of uniformed police and firefighter contingents.

LGBT New Yorkers have the right to expect de Blasio to lead in this fashion. And they should also be able to hope that our new progressive mayor does not accord misplaced “respect” toward those who choose to join the narrow-minded crowd that controls Fifth Avenue on the 17th.

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De Blasio: Is Bratton trying to pull a Giuliani on you?

(Pic from streetsblog.org.)

Although Commissioner Bratton has flatly ignored the community's letter about the homophobic parade, he did tell a reporter last Friday (2/28) that he plans to march in the 'phobe parade. When asked what message the NYPD is sending the LGBTQ community by joining in a major display of bigotry, Bratton irrelevantly answered: "my sister is gay!" We'll try to remember that next time a homophobic cop harasses/ignores/harms a queer who's asked them for help.

Mayor de Blasio, in response to the same question from a different reporter, replied "I've sent plenty a message to the LGBT community." You heard it here first, queer community, de Blasio has already given you everything you deserve in his first two months in office. The next 3 years and 10 months are feeling very long.

Bratton:
“My own family -- my sister is gay, married in Boston. So I am very comfortable with where I am on gay issues. St. Patrick’s Day Parade for me is a celebration of heritage. “It’s that simple.”

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De Blasio: (This transcript was provided to reporters by the Administration.)

  

Question: You are not marching in the St. Patrick’s Parade –

Mayor: Correct.

Question: However, one of your top commissioners says that he will march, Commissioner Bratton. Is Bratton trying to pull a Giuliani on you?

Mayor: No. It’s his right as an American citizen to make that decision, and I honor his right to do so. And I have said many times, I think he’s an extraordinary police commissioner, I have immense respect for him. And that’s a personal decision he’s made, and I respect it.

Question: But what message does it give to the LGBT community?

Mayor: I think I sent a message from this platform, from this podium, in this office, in this building, that mayors over the last twenty years did not send. So I think I’ve sent plenty a message.

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