In the press: Ireland rises against the NYC St. Patrick's parade and "time warp" homophobia

[These are in chronological order. Don't miss the broadcast clip at bottom!]

'Patrick's Day is not about sexuality' - Taoiseach Enda Kenny
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/patricks-day-is-not-about-sexuality-taoiseach-enda-kenny-30021187.html
"The Taoiseach came under fire in the Dail for agreeing to participate in the famous Fifth Avenue Procession - which has been criticised for its ban on posters promoting LGBT rights...Mr Kenny was asked by People Before Profit TD if he would wear a badge symbolising the LGBT community. He responded by stating he would be happy to wear a shamrock, which he says symbolises Irishness."

Split deepens in Irish government over taking part in New York parade
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Split-deepens-in-Irish-government-over-taking-part-in-New-York-parade-.html
"The split in the Irish government over attitudes to marching in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York has deepened with Deputy Leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore backing the decision of his cabinet minister colleague Joan Burton not to march. He is now at odds with his leader Enda Kenny, who has made it clear that he will march on the day and that the rules of the parade are a matter for the organizers."

Why do Irish LGBT's need a banner in the St. Pat's Parade?
http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/cahirodoherty/Why-do-Irish-LGBTs-need-a-banner-in-the-St-Pats-Parade.html
"Many readers have asked this week why Irish gay groups want to carry an identifying banner in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York? Here's the short answer: because if you are not seen you are not heard. And when you are neither seen nor heard, bad things can happen to you without anyone noticing. Gay people know this, but apparently quite a few others need to be reminded. As the increasingly thuggish moves in Russia and Uganda and Nigeria have been reminding us for months now, legally enforced silence is biggest international enemy of LGBT rights."

NY parade is perfect time for Enda to take a stand:
The time-warp views of our Yankee cousins on homosexuality need to be thrown off the float
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/ny-parade-is-perfect-time-for-enda-to-take-a-stand-30013867.html
"AS SAINT Patrick's Day approaches, and Enda readies the bowl of shamrock, it's important that the 'brand Ireland' gospel is spread throughout America. And so, in a way, you could say that the spat over gays and the St Patrick's Day parade in New York has come at just the right time."

Secret behind who really runs the NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
Spoiler alert: it's not much of a secret.
http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/Secret-behind-who-really-runs-the-NYC-Saint-Patricks-Day-Parade-.html#ixzz2tJdSzoug

Why New York mayor is right to cold shoulder this St Patrick's parade 
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/lindy-mcdowell/why-new-york-mayor-is-right-to-cold-shoulder-this-st-patricks-parade-30001335.html
"Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who claims Irish ancestry (doesn't everyone?), got around the parades issue cutely enough by attending two in one day. The main one which bans what Mr Donohue would see as gays "drawing attention to themselves," and another elsewhere in the city which welcomes them, rainbow flags and all... De Blasio's stance...has once again turned the international spotlight on a ban that would appear to be totally at odds with a 21st century city that so prides itself on open-mindedness and liberalism. It says something that Vladimir Putin would feel entirely comfortable with the current St Paddy's parade restrictions."

NY St. Patrick's parade walks alone in banning gay groups
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/NYC-St-Patricks-Day-Parade-falls-far-behind-others-on-LGBT-stance.html
"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...'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.'"

Burton criticised by colleagues for her decision to boycott New York parade
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/burton-criticised-by-colleagues-for-her-decision-to-boycott-new-york-parade-29996899.html
"Ms Burton yesterday said she would not be attending the parade because of its exclusion of gay and lesbian groups... Taoiseach Enda Kenny refused to take the same course and said he intends to march in next month's event... Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer, who last week spoke of being beaten and spat at for being gay, said he would prefer it if Mr Kenny did not take part. Social Protection Minister Joan Burton also heaped pressure on Mr Kenny by claiming that she would boycott the event until it became 'more inclusive.'"

Gay rights activists urge Taoiseach not to march in St Patrick’s Day parade: National Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Federation make plea to Enda Kenny
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/gay-rights-activists-urge-taoiseach-not-to-march-in-st-patrick-s-day-parade-1.1686829
"Olivia McEvoy, chair of the National LGBT Federation, said it would be “inappropriate and wrong” for uniformed Garda members to march in the parade as it sends out “a hugely negative message to LGBT people” and damages efforts to establish police relations with the LGBT community."

Irish Minister refuses to march in New York St Patrick’s Day Parade
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Irish-Minister-refuses-to-march-in-New-York-St-Patricks-Day-Parade.html
'There comes a time when you have to say to the organizers we have had enough of this discrimination and division. In an ideal world, no Taoiseach (PM) or no minister should march in the parade. For me the big issue, why is the ban still there, in a progressive city like New York?'"

Buttimer would ‘prefer’ if Kenny didn’t attend New York parade
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/buttimer-would-prefer-if-kenny-didn-t-attend-new-york-parade-1.1686205

Why De Blasio made the right call on the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/cahirodoherty/De-Blasio-made-the-right-call-on-the-St-Patricks-Day-Parade.html
"The world looks very different than it did in 1990 when this squabble was really getting started and crucially, so does United States federal and state law. Those who still support the continuing ban and even those who have simply grown complacent over the stalemate have failed to recognize that the nation is in a new moment, one that has long since left them behind. Some Irish observers have suggested that the mayor should have attempted to mediate the dispute. Instead of taking the unprecedented and historic step of blankly refusing to participate. He could have saved our blushes by involving himself in the argument, even though the parade organizers have given no indication they are of a mind to bring it to an end. After twenty-five years of shameful stalemate, I’m not sure what concessions these observers think he can actually win? It’s doubtful that even Senator George Mitchell could produce a new path forward."

Irish leader says he will march in New York St Patrick’s Day parade
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/Irish-leader-Enda-Kenny-will-march-in-New-York-parade-despite-boycott-appeal-from-gay-rights-groups.html

Kenny won't bow to gay pressure on St. Patrick's Day parade
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/kenny-wont-bow-to-gay-pressure-on-st-patricks-day-parade-29987710.html

Lyons says ministers should not participate in NY parade
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/lyons-says-ministers-should-not-participate-in-ny-parade-1.1683603

Beaten, spat at and harassed: Buttimer tells Dáil in homophobia debate
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/beaten-spat-at-and-harassed-buttimer-tells-dail-in-homophobia-debate-258004.html

Spat on for being gay: TDs reveal homophobia pain
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/spat-on-for-being-gay-tds-reveal-homophobia-pain-29987735.html

Gay rights groups urge Govt to boycott New York parade
http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0206/502698-gay-rights-new-york-parade/
"Speaking on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Brian Sheehan, Director of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), called on the Government not to take part in the event...A number of lesbian, gay and bisexual rights organisations have called on Taoiseach Enda Kenny to boycott the event. Speaking on the same station, Scott de Buitléir, editor of online LGBT magazine Eile, said he hoped Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, in particular, would not participate in the parade, given his reputation among the gay community as an outspoken promoter of gay rights."

Second strike by NY Mayor de Blasio against Irish
http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/Second-strike-by-NY-Mayor-de- Blasio-against-Irish.html
Another very silly article from Niall O'Dowd (in which he publicly wishes that de Blasio would play both sides?!) but the comments section is great... "De Blasio had the perfect out on the parade, one that his predecessor Michael Bloomberg took – march in the Irish gay parade a couple of weekends before March 17, and then on Fifth Avenue on the day itself."

Mayor de Blasio makes wrong call on Patrick’s Day parade
http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/Mayor-de-Blasio-makes-wrong-call-on-Patricks-Day-parade.html#ixzz2sTaofV84
A ridiculous article in which the Irish Voice's Niall O'Dowd claims "The original gay group was the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization, formed to help gay young Irish immigrants here cope with depression and exploitation issues" and is taken to task by ILGO members in reply. Since Irish Queers members' comments didn't make it past the moderator, one wonders whether the comments will be preserved, so here are a few:

Anne Maguire
As a founding member of ILGO and someone who was involved from the beginning for many years I am, yet again, gob-smacked by this article and its myriad inaccuracies. ILGO was not formed by a bunch of "exploited" and "depressed" Irish people but quite a broad-based group of people from North and South, of various political persuasions, class backgrounds and with a wide variety of interests. I don't doubt the writer's "friend" was depressed but we formed the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization not the Irish Exploited and Depressed Gay Organization.

ILGO was not hijacked by anyone - in fact, we were cheered on, by one and all, until the parade issue got too complicated, taking you out of your comfort zone as far as gay people are concerned. So, you manufactured the falsehood of a radical coup which you regurgitate whenever this issue arises. The truth is that the original people who started ILGO, stood our ground by deciding, as a group, not to go back into the closet and if that's hardcore then bully for us!

Also, you have some nerve stating that we had no interest in Irish issues. Even if you do not believe that equality for the LGBT community is a legitimate Irish issue ILGO was full of people who did work in other areas as well as people who could not give a toss about any issue, Irish or otherwise. Rather than revising history it would serve your readers better if you got over the fact that ILGO was not what you expected, or wanted. Better still, go be a reporter and find out if the AOH is ready to change it's tune.

Niall O'Dowd
Hannah it was as a result of an article i wrote abut a young Irish gay man in difficulty that ILGO was formed. I spoke at their first meeting and heavily advertised it as I felt strongly it was needed. The pity is no such group exists today because it was taken over by some who wanted to make the parade the issue -- and they did

Paul O'Dwyer
I was at the first, and probably every, meeting of ILGO over a period of several years, and I hate to minimize your role in it, but it was not formed because of depression or isolation or exploitation or whatever it is you want to call it, or because you knew of an Irish gay person in difficulty. There were a whole variety of people involved, with a diverse range of interests, from political to social to whatever it is they wanted it to be. It was the vehemence with which so many Irish and Irish-American people and institutions expressed their hatred of gay people once we applied to march in the parade that caused us to feel exploited, depressed and isolated, and that ultimately ended up defining the group.

None of wanted the parade to be "the issue", other than that it was an institution in which we rightly felt entitled to participate fully and freely, like everyone else. It is unfortunate that you think we shouldn't have done so.

Anne Maguire
I was at the first meeting of ILGO and Mr. O'Dowd, you were not present. You did not start ILGO either - I responded to an ad in the Irish Voice newspaper as did most others present at the first meeting. You may have placed that ad but nevertheless, rewriting our history, not your's, is pretty arrogant. The parade became an issue when ILGO refused to be beaten back into the closet - I would argue that the AOH made the parade an issue and over the years it became an "issue" for all kinds of people and organizations for various reasons - your publication included. I believe you did not and do not like the idea of gay people who are not ashamed of themselves for being gay, or Irish for that matter. It's okay if we're "victims" and "in difficulty" but not okay if we're perfectly intact and able and willing to stand up for ourselves. Sadly, all these years later nothing much has changed.

[BROADCAST] Gay rights groups do not want Government representatives at New York St. Patrick’s Day parade
http://www.tv3.ie/news_sub_page.php?video_id=75850&locID=1.2.883
"Gay rights group say they don't want government representatives to attend the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York. The Taoiseach and Tanaiste had earlier claimed that they had the backing of the gay community. It's a huge story all over the United States. For the first time in 20 years, the Mayor of New York is boycotting the St. Patrick's Day parade because it bans marchers who carry gay pride [sic] signs."

Read More

Vintage video: 1991 & 1992 St. Patrick's parade

Lest we forget where this all began, here's video from the 1991 and 1992 NYC St. Patrick's Parade. 1991 is the year ILGO marched in spite of the ban, with Mayor Dinkins, as guests of a progressive AOH contingent. The experience was so awful that ILGO refused to march again without full status -- as a contingent of out queers marching in their own community's parade. (Since then, much of the Irish and Irish American community has overcome their homophobia.)

The next year, 1992, was first of many in which our protests were attacked or quashed and criminalized by the NYPD. In 1993, the parade organizers defined the parade in court as a "private, religious procession" in order to secure the right to their "explicitly anti-gay message."

NYC police have no such right, so our protest focuses on them. The NYPD has never been neutral on the question of queers and the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade. Every year that they march, we're reminded that we only matter to them when we're forcing their hand.

Many thanks to Lisa for digitizing this footage in 2014!

Read More

GCN: Barely Taking a Breath, de Blasio Says “Nyet”

http://gaycitynews.com/barely-taking-breath-de-blasio-says-nyet/

Less than 24 hours after LGBT activists and their allies called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to bar uniformed city personnel from marching in the Fifth Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Parade, they received a pretty firm no. 

Asked by reporters on February 4 for his response to the activists’ letter, the mayor said, “I believe that uniformed city workers have a right to participate if they choose to, and I respect that right.”

Read More

Sign yourself on to DeBlasio letter!

Read More

Press release: DeBlasio under fire

Feb. 4, 2014

MAYOR DE BLASIO UNDER FIRE FOR REMARKS ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

STATEMENT OF THE AD HOC COALITION AGAINST CITY PARTICIPATION IN DISCRIMINATORY PARADES


Contact: Emmaia Gelman (917) 517-3627, emmaia.gelman@gmail.com

Yesterday a broad-based community letter called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to direct NYPD and FDNY Commissioners to stop sending uniformed officers to the nation's largest anti-LGBTQ event—the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade. In response, the Mayor has ducked and punted, saying only that he won't march himself. This isn't much to be celebrated: no truly progressive politician has marched since the parade banned the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization from marching with its banner in 1991, and Mayor Dinkins stood alongside ILGO only to be pelted with beer cans.

The parade is explicitly anti-gay and discriminatory. Because the NYC Human Rights Commission said it violated the City's human rights law in 1992, parade organizers sought deliberately to define it as a private and religious event in order to continue to exclude LGBTQ people. Indeed, John Dunleavy, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade chairman, infamously compared LGBTQ marchers to the KKK being allowed to march in an African-American parade in Harlem.  

Police and firefighters march by the thousands, making up most of the parade. (Did you think it was a celebration of Irish pride? That’s so 1992.) Their uniforms clearly convey that the City endorses the march. The Mayor's cavalier dismissal of the City's human rights law today compounds that effect. We get it: we LGBTQ people don't matter.

When NYPD and the FDNY wear their official work uniforms and march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, they diminish their sworn respect for the laws of this great city and violate the spirit of the city’s human rights law. Employers make rules about uniforms and that’s the issue in dispute – the wearing of official uniforms which conveys to the world that this parade’s bigotry is endorsed by our city government.

But the law protects us, and we will insist that the Mayor uphold it. We are told that we can march if we don’t identify ourselves in any way. If that is the way we are to be treated, then City personnel should march as individuals with their counties but not in City uniforms.

While we protest the rising homophobia in Russia, Nigeria and elsewhere around the world, we seek to end homophobic discrimination here at home as well. The St. Pat’s Parade has a right to its anti-gay march under the constitution. But the City and all supporters of human rights must do everything we can to isolate it.

The coalition’s full letter to Mayor de Blasio with scores of signatories from the City, civic, activist and legal communities is here: http://irishqueers.blogspot.com/2014/02/deblasio-letter.html

STATEMENT OF ALAN LEVINE, CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS COOPERATING ATTORNEY:

“The NYC human rights law is a protection for LGBTQ people and others who have been subject to discrimination, some overt and some  more subtle but equally insidious. It says that the City cannot reduce minority groups' access to services like policing and public safety. Federal case law also affirms it: the police cannot do their job where they are viewed 'more as oppressor than protector.’ The NYPD and FDNY's participation in the parade is hugely questionable under the law—and the fact that the Mayor doesn't seem concerned with remedying this problem is as disturbing legally as it is morally and politically.

If the guarantee  of respect for equality and dignity that is embedded in human rights law and the constitution means anything, it surely means that uniformed police – who are charged with equal enforcement of the law – should not be parading down a public street conveying a message of contempt for one of our City’s communities.”

STATEMENT OF SEAN BARRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF VOCAL-NY:

"We see discriminatory policing every day that targets LGBTQ people, youth of color and other marginalized communities. When police put so much energy into marching in a parade that openly discriminates, and the mayor condones it, it sends the wrong signal about whether the culture of the NYPD is really changing. There’s no doubt Mayor de Blasio recognizes that the parade’s policy is wrong. We hope that he reconsiders his decision regarding the participation of uniformed city workers in the parade to reflect a consistent policy of inclusion and respect for LGBTQ New Yorkers.”

STATEMENT OF JOHN FRANCIS MULLIGAN, IRISH QUEERS

“We have spent the past 22 years at the sidelines of the St Patrick’s Day Parade being spat on, threatened and marginalized. Initially homophobia was an Irish community problem, but changes here and in Ireland have done away with much of that early tension. All that's left are the NYPD and FDNY, who make up most of the marchers in the nation's biggest parade of hate. The intention is clear—they're not just marching, they are the message. We can't make them not be bigots but we can invoke the law. It is illegal for them to march in their official capacity.”

STATEMENT OF AMANDA LUGG, DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY, AFRICAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

“New York City is supposed to be a haven for all of us, with a human rights law to move us out of a long history of unequal treatment and abuses at the hands of police. But every year we see the sea of city uniforms marching on Fifth Avenue in a display of -- at best -- total disregard for a portion of the community. The bitter irony is that our government is working against gross anti-gay laws in Nigeria, Uganda, and elsewhere, and such bigotry at home shamefully undermines that work.”

Read More

UPDATED: LGBTQ and Allies Letter to Mayor on City Participation in Discriminatory Parades

Want to sign on yourself? Click here.
Contact: Emmaia Gelman (917) 517-3627, emmaia.gelman@gmail.com

2/3/2014

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

More than twenty years ago, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization sought to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Fifth Avenue and was excluded. In 1993, parade organizers used a court case to declare it a private, religious procession whose anti-gay message would be controverted by the presence of an identifiable Irish LGBTQ group—even though LGBTQ groups are welcome in St. Patrick’s Day parades all over Ireland.

From then on, City leaders supportive of LGBTQ rights and dignity have boycotted the parade. But the Police Commissioner and thousands of uniformed police, organized by their precincts, have marched every year in this explicitly anti-gay parade. Firefighters and other City personnel also march every year in their official capacity.

The organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade have established a constitutional right to their exclusionary religious procession, but the participation of police and firefighters is a clear violation of the City’s Human Rights Law, appended below.

The presence of uniformed police and firefighters in such a procession sends a clear signal to LGBTQ New Yorkers that these personnel, who are charged with serving and protecting all New Yorkers, do not respect the lives or safety of LGBT people. It confirms the practice of the NYPD and FDNY at times of targeting certain communities for discrimination. What’s more, it betrays the current work of high level government agencies and human rights advocates working internationally against the current wave of extreme anti-LGBTQ legislation and discriminatory practices occurring in countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and Russia.

Indeed, legal precedent on this matter, in Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143 (2d Cir. 2002), says: “The effectiveness of a city's police department depends importantly on the respect and trust of the community and on the perception in the community that it enforces the law fairly, even-handedly, and without bias. If the police department treats a segment of the population of any race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual preference, etc., with contempt, so that the particular minority comes to regard the police as oppressor rather than protector, respect for law enforcement is eroded and the ability of the police to do its work in that community is impaired.”

We are asking you to direct all City departments not to organize marchers for or allow personnel to participate in this anti-LGBTQ procession either in uniform or with any banner that identifies them with the City.

The 2014 St. Patrick's Day parade is approaching. We ask that you act immediately on this matter. We would be pleased to meet for further discussion on a timeline that addresses this year's march.

Sincerely,

[Signatures as of 3/11/14. List in formation. Updates will be posted at http://irishqueers.blogspot.com/2014/02/deblasio-letter.html]

Organizations

ACT UP/New York (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power)

African Services Committee - Amanda Lugg, Director of Advocacy

Brooklyn Community Pride Center – Erin Drinkwater, Executive Director

CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities

The Center for HIV Law and Policy - Catherine Hanssens, Executive Director

Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY) Steering Committee

Gay City News

Gay USA TV program - Ann Northrop, Co-host

GRIOT Circle - Katherine Acey, Executive Director

The International Action Center - Teresa Gutierrez, Co-Director

Irish Queers - Gaby Cryan, Emmaia Gelman & John Francis Mulligan

Jay's House - Jay Toole, Executive Director and Founder

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice - Marjorie Dove Kent, Executive Director

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Campaign for Police Accountability - Marla Erlien, Claude Heffron, Maya Orli, Daniel Rosza Lang/Levitsky

Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club - Allen Roskoff, President

Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn - Michael Czaczkes, President

Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens (LGDCQ) - Michael Mallon, President

Lesbian Herstory Archives

Metropolitan Community Church of NY - Rev. Pat Bumgardner

Milk Not Jails

National Lawyers Guild, NYC Chapter

New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth - Kate Barnhart, Director

New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) - Stephanie Hsu, Secretary

New York City Anti-Violence Project

New York City Dyke March Committee

North Star Fund - Hugh Hogan, Executive Director

Out-FM on WBAI-NY – John Riley and Naomi Brussell

Peoples Power Assembly - Imani Keith Henry, Organizer

Picture the Homeless

Queens Pride House - Pauline Park, President & Acting Executive Director

QUEEROCRACY

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid-NYC - Brad Taylor

Q-Wave - Alain Chan, Steering Committee member

Stonewall Democrats of New York City - Melissa Sklarz, President

VOCAL-NY

WNYACT (Western New Yorkers Against Conversion Therapy)

City Officials and former City Officials

Hon. Letitia James, Public Advocate of the City of New York

Hon. Eric Adams, President, Borough of Brooklyn

Hon. Mark Green, former Public Advocate of the City of New York

Hon. Betsy Gotbaum, former Public Advocate of the City of New York

Hon. John Liu, former New York City Comptroller

Hon. Brad Hoylman, New York State Senator, 27^th District, Manhattan

Hon. Corey Johnson, New York City Council, Manhattan

Hon. Mark Levine, New York City Council, Manhattan

Hon. Rosie Mendez, New York City Council, Manhattan

Hon. Helen Rosenthal, New York City Council, Manhattan

Hon. Ritchie Torres, New York City Council, Bronx

Hon. Ronnie Eldridge, former member, New York City Council

Hon. Herman “Denny” Farrell, New York State Assembly, Manhattan

Hon. Richard Gottfried, New York State Assembly, Manhattan

Hon. Keith Wright, New York State Assembly, Manhattan

Hon. Andy Humm, former New York City Human Rights Commissioner

Hon. Dr. Joyce Hunter, former New York City Human Rights Commissioner

Hon. James B. Levin, former New York City Human Rights Commissioner

Individuals (affiliations for identification purposes only)

Sammer Aboelela, Muslim community activist

Donna Aceto, activist, photographer and Gay City News freelancer

Curtis Arluck, Democratic District Leader, Morningside Heights

Nadia Awad

Mary C. Bakel, MSW, social activist

Sean Barry, Executive Director, VOCAL-NY

Mary E. Bartholomew, Esq., IPEC (Irish Parades Emergency Committee)

Hon. Marle Becker, NY County Democratic Committee

Jamie Bauer

Mark Black, veteran gay activist

Sandy Boyer, Irish community activist

Christopher Herman Brandt

Dwayne Brown, Executive Director, Jamaican Anti-homophobia Stand

Reginald T. Brown, M.Ed., Unity Fellowship of Christ Movement

Martha Burgess

Dennis Byrnes, Cranston, RI

Leslie Cagan, peace and justice organizer

Scott Caplan, Police Misconduct and Corruption Officer, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club

George Carter, Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research

Sheri Clemons

Debra Cooper, Democratic State Committeeperson, Upper West Side

Peter Cramer

Michael Cunningham

Kara Davis, Queer activist

Brother Mark D’Alessio, SSF

Ann D’Ercole, Ph.D., Psychologist

Bill Dobbs, gay civil libertarian

Chelsea Dreher

Jack Drescher, MD, Clinical Professor, New York Medical College

Lisa Duggan, Professor, Dept of Social & Cultural Analysis, NYU

Hazel Dukes

Andrew El-Kadi

Hugh English

Lisa Fane

Brendan Fay, St. Pat’s for All, Founder and Co-Chair

Louis Flores, blogger

Jennifer Flynn, Managing Director, Health GAP

Richard Gamboa, artist/activist/academic

Robert Gangi, PROP (Police Reform Organizing Project)

Carl George

Kt Good

Ryan Green

Brother Mark Gregory, Society of St. Francis

Lisa Guido

Yvonne M. Harrison, Restoration Temple Ministries

Anthony Heilbut, author

Jenny Heinz

Ronald E. Hellman, MD, Director, LGBT Affirmative Program, South Beach Psychiatric Center

Geoffrey Hendricks, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University and former President of the Board of Visual AIDS

Tony Hoffmann, President, Village Independent Democrats

Douglas Jennings

Bishop Zachary Jones, Unity Fellowship of Christ Church

Jay Kallio, veteran LGBT activist

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, retired Professor of Jewish Studies and Comparative Literature, Queens College

Esther Kaplan

Ken Kidd, Queer Nation NY

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah

SL Korn, Queer activist

Mark Landis, Democratic District Leader, 67th Assembly District, Part C

Rick Landman, veteran gay activist

Bob Lederer, member of WBAI Local Station Board; contributing producer, Out-FM on WBAI radio

Glen Leiner, veteran gay activist

Scott Long, human rights activist

Harris Lirtzman, veteran gay activist

Alan Timothy Lunceford, End AIDS Now

Revd. Dr. Bernárd J. Lynch, Chair of Camden London LGBTQ Forum, England

Ronald Madson and Richard Dietz, plaintiffs in suit that won domestic partner benefits for all City employees in Lesbian and Gay Teachers Association vs. The NYC Board of Education

Anne Maguire

Eli Mayer, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist

Malachy McCourt, Irish Pagan and author

David M. McDowell, MD (psychiatrist), Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Medical Center

David McReynolds, Socialist Workers Party

Mark Milano, ACT UP/NY

Patrick Moffitt

Megan Mulholland, Co-Director, QUEEROCRACY

Eileen Myles, poet

Kevin Noble, Irish community activist

Bernard O’Brien

Paul O’Dwyer

Edward Pass

Robert Pinter, Campaign to Stop the False Arrests

Jessica Rechtschaffer

Charles Rice-Gonzalez, author and co-founder of BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance

Nelson Santos, Executive Director, Visual AIDS

Elizabeth Savicz, teacher

Nathan M. Schaefer, Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda

Paul Schindler, editor-in-chief of Gay City News, and Bert Vaccari

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

Arthur Schwartz, Greenwich Village District Leader

Elaine Shulman, President, Ansonia Independent Democrats

Charles Silverstein, Ph.D., Former Director, Institute for Human Identity

Jo Anne Simon, NYS Democratic Committeewoman and District Leader, 52^nd Assembly District, Brooklyn

Trish Spoto

Armanda Squadrilli

Sarinya Srisakul, NYC firefighter and President of United Women Firefights

Jessica Stern, Director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)

Colm Tóibín, author

Michael Tikili, co-founder and board member QUEEROCRACY

Urvashi Vaid

Andy Velez

Thomas S. Verni (Ret. Detective), NYPD Community Affairs, Citywide LGBT Community Liaison 

Shep Wahnon, veteran gay activist

Dr. George Weinberg, psychotherapist, author of Society and the Healthy Homosexual (1972) identifying homophobia as social ill

Seth Weissman, Victory Fund Campaign Board Member

Robert West, President/Founder, Breaking Bread Under the Rainbow

Edmund White, writer

Sherry Wolf, associate editor, International Socialist Review

Maxine Wolfe, Professor Emerita, City University Graduate School and Coordinator Lesbian Herstory Archive

Ellen Zaltzberg, retired City worker

Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike, THAW, and under DADAnewyork

Legal (affiliations for identification purposes only)

Susan Abraham, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Beena Ahmad, Civil Rights Attorney

Bina Ahmad, Criminal Defense Attorney and National Vice President of the National Lawyers Guild

Afua Atta-Mensah, Attorney

Lee F. Bantle, Civil Rights Attorney

Melynda Barnhart, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School

Fran Bress, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Juan Cartagena, President & General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF

Ellen P. Chapnick, Dean for Social Justice Initiatives, Columbia Law School

Elena L. Cohen, President, National Lawyers Guild-New York City Chapter

Kathleen Conkey, Attorney

Pamela Edwards, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law

Hillary Exter, public interest lawyer

J. Todd Fernandez, Human Rights Attorney

Joan P. Gibbs, Esq., Civil Rights Attorney

Mercer Givhan, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School

Julie Goldscheid, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law

Larry Grosberg, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Abdeen Jabara, former President, American Arab Antidiscrimination Committee

Ken Kimerling, Civil Rights Attorney

Alan Levine, Civil Rights Attorney

Arthur Leonard, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Richard A. Levy, Union and Civil Rights Attorney

Foster Maer, Civil Rights Attorney

Holly Maguigan, Professor of Law, NYU Law School

Carlin Meyer, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Benjamin Meyers, Attorney

James Meyerson, Civil Rights Attorney

Stephen A. Newman, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Gideon Oliver, Civil Rights Attorney

Edward Purcell, Distinguished Professor of Law, New York Law School

David Rankin, Civil Rights Attorney

Michael Ratner, President Emeritus, Center for Constitutional Rights

Andrea Ritchie, Civil Rights Attorney

Allie Robbins, CUNY School of Law

Franklin Siegel, Civil Rights Attorney

Jane Marcia Spinak, Clinical Professor of Law, Columbia law School

Michael Steven Smith, Esq., Member, Board of Directors, Center for Constitutional Rights

Martin R. Stolar, Civil Rights Attorney

Richard Storrow, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law

Peter Strauss, Distinguished Adjunct Professor, New York Law School

Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law, New York Law School and former President of the ACLU

Mark Taylor, Civil Rights Attorney

Susan Tipograph, Attorney

Bela August Walker, Associate Professor of Law, Roger Williams School of Law

Daniel Warshawsky, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School

Rose M. Weber, Civil Rights Attorney

Melvin L. Wulf, former Legal Director, ACLU

-------

New York City Human Rights Law
(http://www.nyc.gov/html/cchr/html/law/nyc-human-rights-ch1.shtml#1)

Title 8 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York

Chapter 1 - Commission on Human Rights

§ 8-101 Policy. In the City of New York, with its great cosmopolitan population, there is no greater danger to the health, morals, safety and welfare of the city and its inhabitants than the existence of groups prejudiced against one another and antagonistic to each other because of their actual or perceived differences, including those based on race, color, creed, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, partnership status, any lawful source of income, status as a victim of domestic violence or status as a victim of sex offenses or stalking, lawful occupation, whether children are, may be or would be residing with a person or conviction or arrest record. The council hereby finds and declares that prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, and discrimination and disorder occasioned thereby threaten the rights and proper privileges of its inhabitants and menace the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state. A city agency is hereby created with power to eliminate and prevent discrimination from playing any role in actions relating to employment, public accommodations and housing and other real estate, and to take other actions against prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, discrimination and bias-related violence or harassment as herein provided; and the commission established hereunder is hereby given general jurisdiction and power for such purposes.

Read More

This year's protest - handing it off!

Dear Queers - This year, Irish Queers is handing off the parade protest to some of the committed protesters who have stood alongside IQ for many years. While spectators on the sidelines are vastly more supportive now than they started out 22 years ago, the parade organizers and the Catholic church are intransigent in their bigotry. We still believe it's illegal for the NYPD to march in the parade in their uniformed, official capacity. The fact that they do march underlines how deeply anti-queer bias is entrenched -- it's the same unenlightened police department that terrorizes communities of color with stop and frisk. We hope to challenge that institutional homophobia, and the NYPD's general nonchalance toward New Yorkers' right to their services, with a lawsuit.

For information about this year's protest, email Ed Pass: PassNCO@aol.com.
West side of Fifth Ave between 56th & 57th Sts - 10:45am.

Flyer from this year's ad hoc protest.

Read More

Pix from today's demo...

Here are a few from today! (Click for album.) 

Read More

Pre-parade blog traffic: you like us, you really like us!!!

• New York St. Patrick's Day Parade To Be Protested By Irish Queers 
  
• Will Comcast Make This The Last St. Patrick's Day Parade To Exclude Gays? (Michaelangelo Signorile) 
• Why I Will March in Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade (Tom Allon -- see comments!)
• St. Patrick’s Day exclusion continues in New York (Suzy Byrne @ MamanPoulet.com) 

Read More