Students for Justice in N. Ireland, February 2003
For more than a decade now the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO) has been barred from participating in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. This has been the policy of the parade organizers, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an American Catholic fraternal order which is exclusively Irish-American and male.
We believe this is based exclusively on homophobia and as such we reject it. Even worse, the AOH is essentially saying that you cannot be Irish and non-heterosexual, they are effectively stripping many Irish and Irish-Americans of their national, ethnic, and cultural identities. St. Patrick's Day is supposed to be a celebration of Irish heritage. It is not and should not be defined by Catholicism. Many different groups and prominent individuals are invited to participate,
some of whom are neither Catholic nor Irish. Certainly an organization representing a part of the Irish community as ILGO does should be included. In Ireland itself, there is visible participation by the LGBT community in St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
As a group that works to promote human and civil rights in N. Ireland we admire the spirit and work of Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey in her past leadership of the N. Ireland Civil Rights
Movement. We also admire her willingness to stand up to those Irish-Americans who supported civil rights for Catholics in N. Ireland but not for African-Americans. We cannot be silent in the face of homophobia which attempts to strip Irish and Irish-American gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals and transexuals of their national, ethnic, and cultural identities.
We would also support the City of New York taking over the organization of the parade. Considering the broad appeal the parade has, it's extensive use of City resources (streets, police, street clean-up, etc.) and the exclusive nature of the AOH, this would make senseand would almost certainly resolve this issue in favor of inclusion.
The AOH should organize the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade in an inclusive way that values all Irish people, in the spirit of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Until this issue is resolved in favor of inclusiveness and equality, we support the calls for a boycott of the parade.