Statement on St Patrick's Parade/OUT@NBC announcement

Irish Queers -- along with the scores of LGBT individuals, groups, and allies who have fought since 1991 for a parade that includes the whole Irish community -- is learning about the change in the NYC St Patrick's Day parade at the same time as the rest of New York City and the Irish community. We welcome this cracking of the veneer of hate, but so far Irish LGBT groups are still not able to march in our community's parades. The fight continues.

This is a deal that was made behind closed doors between parade organizers and one of their last remaining sponsors, NBC. It allows NBC's gay employees to march, but embarrassingly has not ended the exclusion of Irish LGBT groups. The parade organizers have said, astoundingly, that we "can apply" in years to come.

To the extent that parade organizers have changed their tune, it's the result of Irish Queers' many years of organizing, which led to last year's refusal to march by Council Speaker Mark-Viverito and others, and Mayor de Blasio, the withdrawal of major corporate sponsors and escalating criticism of uniformed city workers marching in the Parade.

We welcome this small victory, but our call remains the same -- the parade must be open to Irish LGBT groups, not "in subsequent years" but now. (We remember too well how parade organizers used fake waiting lists to bury our appications before.)

The Irish community in Ireland and abroad is far more progressive than the parade committee, having abandoned the secretive power-mongering of the days when the Catholic Church held sway over politics. We still hope NYC will catch up. This has been a long, long journey and struggle. It is time for Irish LGBT people, marching under our own banner, to take our rightful place in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Info: 917-517-3627 or irishqueers@gmail.com

irishqueers.blogspot.com

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In the news...

Irish boyband Boyzone has a male love interest for its openly gay member, Stephen Gately, in their latest music video. Reverend David McCullough, minister of Dromore Reformed Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland, had this to say about the video:

The message of the Boyzone video is yet another subtle effort of the homosexual propaganda machine. This video, that will be watched by millions, is sending out a deadly message to young people. (?!!!?)

To read more, click here. To watch the video, click here.

Click here to read Maureen Dowd's op-ed column on the soon to be released Harvey Milk biopic and Proposition 8. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in American history and served on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. He was murdered by Dan White, an Irish Catholic former policeman and former city supervisor who opposed Milk’s equal rights initiatives for gays.

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One-Third Of Irish Gay Couples Are Living in the US

AN estimated 1,200 Irish-born men and women – roughly one-third of Ireland’s gay couples — are living with a same-sex partner in the U.S., according to a new research paper from the Williams Institute, a public policy think tank at the University of California Los Angeles Law School.

To read more, click here for Cahir O’Doherty's article in the Irish Voice.

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AOH to Irish Queers: "You can march in body bags."

(photo by Maggie M. Koopmans)

The protest site was marked by tension between demonstrators, who at times chanted, "Racist, sexist, anti-gay, NYPD go away," and uniformed police and firemen marching, who by and large conveyed either condescension or outright hostility.

One fireman from New Jersey shouted "fag" at the protesters, then scurried into the middle of his contingent when pursued by this reporter for his name.

A member of the AOH contingent in the parade was more frank in his hostility."You can march," he said, "in body bags."

This snippet comes from Bigotry on Parade, Again by Andy Humm in Gay City News.

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Article on Immigration & St. Patrick's Day

Check out this article by Shaun Harkin on Counterpunch.

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AT ST. PAT’S PARADE, IRISH QUEERS CHALLENGE NYPD, FDNY’S RIGHT TO MARCH

Protesters call for ouster of thousands of uniformed public servants from anti-gay parade.

NYC – Irish Queers have assembled a picket line this morning at the New York St. Patrick's Day Parade, protesting the homophobia of the parade – and the uniformed public servants who march in it. Chanting “Irish queers into the Irish parade!” and “If gays can’t march, cops can’t either!” the protesters continue a 17-year challenge to the parade’s discrimination.

Since 1991, the parade has been imbued with an explicitly anti-gay message by organizers – which makes the City-sponsored participation of thousands of uniformed New York City police, firefighters and EMTs discriminatory and improper. Irish Queers has called on the Police and Fire Commissioners to prevent contingents of uniformed officers from marching in the parade.

“We’re sick of hearing city officials say they can’t intercede in the homophobia because it’s a religious march. If it’s a religious anti-gay parade, and uniformed cops and firefighters have to be pulled out,” said Tierney Gleason of Irish Queers. “It can’t be both privately religious and publicly Irish. It’s time for the city to pull the plug on this bait-and-switch game.”

“New Yorkers are reminded daily that police officers carry deep biases against the people they’re bound to serve – against people of color, against immigrants, people with AIDS, LGBT people. But public servants do not have the right to express those biases in their official capacity; to create an environment of fear and bias that denies us access to municipal services, especially emergency services,” said J.F. Mulligan, who organizes with Irish Queers. “Police participation totally violates the separation of church and state. Uniformed police have no right to march in this parade.”

The St. Patrick’s Day parade was legally redefined by the NYC Parade Committee as a private, religious procession in order to to justify keeping LGBT groups out. In the early 1990s, the Parade Committee used this defense to defeat a discrimination claim brought by the NYC Human Rights Commission. But the Archdiocese of New York, in an unrelated statement pertaining to Holy Week, recently issued a statement that it views the NYC St. Patrick’s parade as a purely civic event.

“The homophobia and vitriol of this parade – which we see every year as we picket – can no longer be hidden behind religion. The parade organizers are plain old bigots, abusing the platform of this important Irish American cultural event to express their hatred of LGBT people,” said Gleason. “The city must stop allowing the parade organizers this loophole to legalize discrimination.”

Irish Queers, which evolved out of the Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization in New York City, is active on immigrant justice, Northern Ireland self-determination, anti-racism, reproductive justice and other social justice issues.

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Listen to Irish Queers on Out FM

Click here to listen to Irish Queers on Out FM's March 10th show on WBAI with John Riley.

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From Gay City News...

St. Pat's Politics in Queens, Manhattan

By: ANDY HUMM, 2/28/2008

The Irish parade season kicks off this Sunday, March 2, with the inclusive Queens St. Patrick's Day Parade led by grand marshals Christine Quinn, the out lesbian speaker of the City Council, and writer Pete Hamill. It starts at 2 p.m. at 43rd Street and Skillman Avenue (#7 train to 40th St./Lowery) and winds up at 61st Street and Woodside. For more information, go to www.stpatsforall.com.

The Manhattan St. Patrick's Day Parade on Fifth Avenue on March 17 will be protested once again by Irish Queers with an action along the route at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, starting at 11 a.m. The parade, controlled by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), has refused Irish LGBT groups the chance to participate with their banners since the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization, now defunct, applied in 1991. Then-Mayor David Dinkins let ILGO march with him that year. The gay marchers and the mayor were pelted with bottles and other abuse and ILGO and other openly LGBT groups have since been totally excluded.

Most major Democratic politicians, except for New York's two US senators, have honored a boycott of the Fifth Avenue parade. Quinn, who was arrested several times in protests against the exclusion but - like almost all elected officials - has not joined the picket in recent years, tried to broker a way for Irish LGBT folk to march when she first became speaker, but was decisively rebuffed. Her effort involved allowing marchers to participate with identifying gay sashes and buttons, a compromise approach Emmaia Gelman of Irish Queers rejects, saying anything less than being allowed to march behind a banner would not do. "We're not going to be downgraded," Gelman said.

On the "Gay USA" TV show I co-host with Ann Northrop, Quinn, several weeks ago, said, "I'm going to keep fighting and keep boycotting until we can get past this." While she conceded she was not optimistic about a change under the current AOH leadership, she said, "When you talk to the leadership of these organizations one step below - the next round of folks who are going to take over - when they're in charge we'll get beyond this."

Gelman said, "We can't have a committee decide who is Irish."

In a release, Irish Queers called on Quinn to "stop giving cover to politicians who ignore the boycott - Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Michael Bloomberg among them - by standing with them everywhere but on Fifth Avenue and glossing over their decision to support religious-right homophobes."

Irish Queers wrote Quinn about their concerns and said that in her emailed response she reiterated her commitment not to march, but did not respond to the issues they raised.

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'Tis the St. Patrick's Day season.......

.....and Irish Queers are shaking things up for the 17th year in a row. Here is our latest Press Advisory:

As Council Speaker Quinn fades out of challenge to NYC St. Patrick’s parade, Irish Queers press her for commitments

Irish Queers submitted a request for clarification to NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn last week (excerpts below) charging the Speaker with wooing both sides of the St. Patrick’s Day parade issue – both Irish and other gay activists, and conservative and church-linked Irish American power brokers. The letter requested that Speaker Quinn make clear her position on the parade, its organizers, and her willingness to provide meaningful support to progressive sectors of the NYC Irish community who oppose the religious right, and homophobia.

Speaker Quinn has not replied to Irish Queers with any commitments of support, nor any answers to questions about her activities in the Irish American community – although on Gay USA, a national cable television program, she claimed last week that she didn’t know she was joining NYC Parade Committee chair John Dunleavy for a posed photograph at a United Irish County Associations dinner.

Irish Queers plans to protest the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade, which explicitly excludes Irish LGBT people unless they remain closeted. In the last decade, the Parade Committee has transformed the march into a 'religious procession' and has re-branded itself to include an anti-gay message. The protest will take place at 57th Street and 5th Avenue, beginning at 11am on March 17th.

[Our letter to Christine Quinn from February 19, 2008]

…You’ve stood with us in the past, but in the last few years we’ve seen you wooing both conservative Irish American figures and the LGBT community, showing each a different face. In 2006, we saw you attempting to strike a deal with parade organizers without talking to groups organizing against the parade’s homophobia. In 2007, we saw you marching in Dublin and talking about queer rights, yet we don’t see you at home talking about queer rights in front of the Irish American community… we’ve seen you support the NYPD without making any challenge to violent, politicized policing of queers and others. We heard you entertain the idea of inviting Ian Paisley, renowned racist and homophobe, to lead the NYC parade. So far in 2008, we’ve seen you mingling with anti-gay parade organizer John Dunleavy, and retreating from progressives in the LGBT community. We know you’re planning to join in the inclusive Queens parade, but we also know you’re aware that the eyes of the world – and the Irish community – are on Fifth Avenue.
…

Redelineate the boycott on the NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade. Stop giving cover to politicians who ignore the boycott – Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomberg among them – by standing with them everywhere but on Fifth Avenue and glossing over their decision to support religious-right homophobes. Don’t photo-op with the NYC St. Patrick’s Parade Committee and other supporters of the parade as if they’re lovely people who just happen to run an annual anti-gay public spectacle. Say out loud that those who march in the parade are joining in an event whose message is explicitly anti-gay, and hold them to account for their actions.

Demand that the city stop participating in the parade. Tell other city officials that they must not march – and if they do, impose political consequences on them. If cops and firefighters want to march, tell them they shouldn’t be representing the city in uniform.

Support the Irish queers and progressives who are doing this work. Stop being somewhere else on the day of the parade – turn up on the picket line. Don’t stand in for Irish queers in discourse about the parade with politicians, media, business groups and others. Instead, support grassroots voices to be heard by encouraging people to talk to Irish queers and progressives themselves.

Show that Irish queers are an integral part of the New York Irish community. Actively include secular Irish queers in official City Council celebrations of Irish community. Create opportunities for Irish New York to support and celebrate the accomplishments of Irish queers; don’t tack us on as an afterthought.

Don’t undermine queers and progressives in Ireland. Don’t stand with unrepentant bigots like Ian Paisley and propose that their targets – whether queers, Catholics or Irish republicans – should embrace those who attack us.

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News from all over the Irish Diaspora....

• "It would be better if condoms were sold VAT free. They are not luxury items, they are essential in reducing rates of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies." This quote comes from Audrey Simpson of the Irish Family Planning Association. I'd also like to add that CONDOMS SAVE LIVES in addition to reducing rates of STIs and unwanted pregnancies. After pressure from activists, the Irish Republic reduced the VAT (value added tax) on condoms from 21% to 13.5%. The cost of condoms in Ireland is one of the highest in the EU. For more information, click here.

• Good news for trans folks in the Republic of Ireland.....The High Court in Dublin declared that Irish birth registration laws are in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights. This decision stems from the case of Dr. Lydia Foy, a dentist that was denied a birth certificate that described her as female. For the full article, click here. We will keep an eye on this case.

• It's funny how the AOH in America says Irish gay people don't exist, cuz LGBT folks in Ireland were picketing the Parliament on Valentine's Day. (Note: Members of Irish Queers are more likely to be signers of this petition than picketing here in NYC for gay marriage.)

• Speaking of this American notion that Irish LGBT people don't exist, check out QueerSpace Belfast and GLYNI (Gay and Lesbian Youth Northern Ireland) on YouTube.

• If you are in the Los Angeles area, check out Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Renberg Theatre. Yes straight people, she was one of us.

• Renowned bigot Ian Paisley Jr. has resigned from the Northern Ireland Executive. Not only was he a homphobe, but he was crooked too!

• This story isn't of queer interest specifically, but it's nice to see an article where an Irish American is interrogating America's racist, anti-immigrant history....especially in these times. Check out this article on 19th century anti-Chinese racism in Oregon.

• And finally, there is some sad news to report. A 15 year old, Lawrence King, was shot twice in the head by one of his classmates after being taunted for being gay and wearing make-up, feminine jewelry, and high-heeled boots to school in Oxnard, CA. The shooter, Brandon McInerney, has an Irish last name. He has been charged with premeditated murder and will be tried as an adult. We will be following this case.

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News Items.....

• "The most vehement discrimination that most young gay people will ever encounter will be within their own families." Yeah, we know....we have stood out in the cold on Fifth Avenue for 16 years having people that look just like our parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, etc. hurl homophobic insults at us. This quote comes from an Irish Independent article called "Homosexuality is a family matter." To read the full article, click here.

• “You can change your mind and your heart, you can progress. If you’re from an immigrant background you can see that discrimination needs to be stopped in its tracks wherever it’s found.” This quote comes from Stephen Dunne, the Irish immigrant from Massachusetts that sued the Massachusetts State Bar Association last June for $9.75 million for including a gay marriage question on the exam. (He failed the exam by one question.) The Irish Voice recently spoke with Mr. Dunne on his transition from calling same-sex marriage “morally repugnant and patently offensive” last year to now where he "started seeing the parallels with regard to the discrimination that Irish people experienced when they first came to America and the discrimination that gay people face now." To read the full article, click here.

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Updates, News, Announcements

Last Friday was the Saint/Goddess Brigid's Feast Day. Brigid was my kind of girl.....she ran off on her dad when he tried to make her get married, she liked to travel, and she liked art and books and stuff. But most importantly, she was a feminist and she fought against injustice. I read this essay once that implied that maybe she was a big lez....it made me smile.

The fate of Pier 40 will be decided in March. Stay tuned.

Check out this story Gays and grays -- so happy together about the Most Holy Redeemer parish in San Francisco's Castro.

Ógra Shinn Féin wants to lobby and campaign for free condoms and comprehensive sex education. Rock on!

This week is Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) in New York City beginning Feb. 4th through the 10th. It's a weeklong series of events held concurrently in many cities around the world to raise awareness of Israel Apartheid and gather support for the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign called for by more than 170 Palestinian civil society organizations in July 2005. For a listing of events, click here.

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News of Irish & Queer Interest...

Check out this story of transphobia, Catholic-style. I love it how Bill Donohue frames everything like he (& other Catholics) are the victims. As if!

The Irish American community in NY doesn't want to admit that Irish LGBT people exist, but over in Ireland, a new survey reports that 3 out of 4 Irish people believe the morning-after pill should be available from a pharmacist without a prescription. In December, the Irish Times quoted a poll stating that "79 per cent of Irish Catholic adults oppose church teaching prohibiting the use of condoms for any reason, including the prevention of HIV and AIDS." Just more proof that the Catholic vision of Ireland that the AOH wants to preserve simply does not exist any more.

An Irish homophobe in Boston *actually* makes an apology for being an "instrument of bigotry and prejudice." How often does that ever happen?

A teenager was recently in a Dublin court to answer for charges that he attacked a straight couple last year because he thought she was "a gay man because of her hairstyle." (Yes, this is a true story.)

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Looking for law students!

IQ needs some legal research help... call if you're interested! 917-517-3627.

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New meeting day for IQ

We're now meeting on the first Tuesday of each month.
8pm @ LGBT Center
208 West 13th St. between 7th & 8th Aves.

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