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Gay groups denied permission to march in St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston
I wish I could find a list of the groups participating in this year's parade - I can only find sponsors. If they are excluding any/all advocacy or political groups, then I can understand it - but I doubt that is the case.
Gay groups denied permission to march in St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston
State House News ServiceGay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people will not be marching in the annual South Boston St. Patrick?s Day parade on Sunday after two groups received rejection letters from organizers.
MassEquality, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents, applied to march in the parade organized by the Allied War Veterans Council.
The veterans group said no, citing the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case Hurley vs. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Group of Boston, which ruled parade organizers do have a legal right to decide who marches in the parade.
Join the Impact, another gay, lesbian and transgender group in Boston, was also denied permission to walk in the parade this year. The Irish-American group marched in the parade in 1992 after obtaining a court order, but no gay or lesbian organization has walked since the Supreme Court ruling, according to Kara Suffredini, executive director of MassEquality.
Suffredini said her organization has bigger concerns than marching in the parade, but added it was ?emblematic of more life-altering rejection that LGBT people face in Massachusetts every day.?
Suffredini said there is nothing the group can do to fight for the ability to march. Changing attitudes is the bigger task, she said. ?I think this is the work we do every day of changing hearts and minds,? Suffredini said. ?There will be a day when we will be welcomed in this parade.?
Re: Gay groups denied permission to march in St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston
::zips up flame-proof suit::
Every gay group I've ever seen marching in a parade (remember I'm not from a city and have only seen a few parades that include this) had some very "questionable" activity happening. Men were half-naked, dancing around and making out on the floats.
I'm wondering if the organizers are trying to keep it a family parade for children and are worried about "questionable" activity happening on these floats. I would think that they could solve this issue by just saying that everyone on the floats has to be dressed appropriately and behaving appropriately (across the board - gay or straight).
Once again, my exposure to gays and lesbians in parades has been very limited, so maybe I've only seen the rare exception. Forgive me for my ignorance if I am wrong on this.
::prepares for the fire::
As long as you're prepared!
I'm pretty familiar with MassEquality - they are a very legitimate advocacy organization - think Human Rights Campaign on a state level. I highly doubt that anything they did on a float would be anything other than family friendly. Think signs with organization logo, matching t-shirts and some rainbow flags.
They never allow the gay groups to march in the Southie parade. It's not an advocacy or political exclusion---hell, its a Southie tradition for elected pols and campaigning pols to march. Its just a gay thing.
Every year they request to march, every year they are denied. Every year Mayor Menino refuses to march in the parade because of it (one of his few remaining redeeming qualities).
ETA: They specifically banned the gay groups in the 90s. Interestingly enough, last year for the first time a group called "Veterans for Peace" was also denied. So they organized their own parade (right behind the Southie parade) and invited the gays to march with them. Fun, eh?
What other groups did they ban? I hope any Catholic groups, then (and I say that as a Catholic) because you don't want a St. Patrick's Day parade to turn into a soapbox for Catholic issues. Can you imagine the giant anti birth control float they would make? I mean, because apparently if a group is in a parade, they will make it a soapbox for their issues. ::eye roll::
AW, I guess our experiences have differed. I've been to Pride parades and I would actually feel fine taking my children to that kind of event. My city has one of the first and biggest pride parades in the country. I'd feel much more comfortable taking my family to see it than I would our Halloween parade/carnival.
Anyway, do I sound like a jerk if I say it's less surprising because this is Southie? I don't think of it as a super "progressive" kind of neighborhood (though I think some parts are "gentrifying" and maybe I'm wrong).
40/112
Who knows if other groups were not allowed to join the parade. A St. Patrick's Day Parade is not about sexual identity but about celebrating the good works of a Saint and the celebration of Irish heritage
AW: I think the outfits many cheerleaders and baton twirlers wear are less "child friendly" than anything else I see at parades.
Plus, its a St. Patrick's day parade in Southie. Lets be honest, its a drunk fest.
Which is why I asked you what other groups were banned.
And you are right. Its not about sexuality. unfortunately the organizers have made it about sexuality by not letting any gay groups in the years since the ruling participate. At all. Not one.Come on, Irish, all gay people care about is having sex ALL DAY LONG. Lots and lots of GAY SEX. Why else would they want to be in the parade, putting their "issues" out there?
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Why the group made their decision is irrelevant. Yes, there are Catholics that march. No princess, it isn't about celebrating the good works of a Saint . It's about getting shitfaced on Broadway while thousands of bagpipers and politicians march by. Welcome to Southie.
Regardless, the Supreme Court upheld the group's right to include whomever it wants in its parade. There doesn't need to be a rule of logic or a good reason.
I'm thinking Catholics for Choice would be denied as well.
It's also apparently about intergalactic warfare. I cannot believe they gave Palpatine a platform.
LOVE
I'll agree with you there. Some of those costumes are horrifying. I can't imagine letting my daughter march down the street in those costumes being oogled at by old men.
AW - I'm as Irish-American as it gets. My FIL is from Ireland so H has his Irish citizenship (as so does my son). I grew up completely immersed in Irish-American culture. I named my son Kevin Patrick....and I call him Paddy! [which brings me to your siggy - is the St. Patty's day some joke? If not, it's Paddy, not Patty].
I hate St. Patrick's Day. It's become a drunk-fest and an embarrassment. There is nothing family parade about any of the parades I've seen recently. They're just an excuse for people to get drunk, wear green and act like morons.
This is a political ploy by the gay groups. It happens every year. I understand these parades are in theory sponsored by private entities (the Catholic Church) and they may exclude anyone they want to exclude. I also think it's stupid and just makes the CC look bad - sure, you can act like a drunken fool in public but just don't be gay about it!
If St. Paddy's Day was such an important religous event that it merits a parade they should ban alcohol and have the multitude of police along the route keep the idiots at bay.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Yes, that is awesome.
AW, for what its worth, for many years I marched in the Boston Pride Parade with my church. It was a fantastic family parade. Lots of color, arts (puppets, song and dance), exuberance and joy. Lots of little old lesbians holding hands.
I loved that parade. It was such a celebration of people. Old and young, all different races. I can't imagine a more wonderful scene for kids, yknow? Very "You are Loved". How often do our children get that message in such a public setting?
"That ruling was tested eight years ago, in the days before the start of the Iraq war, when a group known as Veterans for Peace unsuccessfully sought permission to march in the parade. When the organizers denied their application, the antiwar demonstrators were instead waved onto the second half of the route by Boston police, to follow the procession. Again, the organizers sued, and again the courts upheld their right to dictate the list of marchers. "
I've always heard Americans say St. Patty's. I didn't realize.
The sig is there because DH is Scottish (well, technically Scotch-Irish, but whatever). St. Patrick's Day is just an excuse for him to wear his (Scottish) family tartan in publicj without judgment and drink some Guiness. Well, it used to be. He doesn't do much of that anymore because of the kids.
I agree that the drunkenness isn't appropriate either and that this just makes the church look bad.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too!
I would be all for that kind of parade. I warned that it was just my ignorance showing. We don't see parades like that where I'm from.
The highest courts in the land have declared the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade to be "private"... or, at least, that the people who march in it are "private", and, therefore, outside the scope of the Massachusetts Public Accommodation discrimination law that would require no discrimination in a "place of public accommodation".
Or, maybe it was that it wasn't a "place".
I don't remember.
I was in Massachusetts when all this blew up for the first time, working for the agency that enforces the anti-discrimination laws. We got our heads handed to us on a platter by the courts for having the audacity to say that the parade organizers couldn't do this. Ever since then, it's been an ongoing circus every year, as missusbee said.
If you want, there's actually a whole book about it... written, actually, from the perspective of a supporter of the parade organizers. I have a copy of it laying around somewhere. I'll dig up the title if you care.
ETA: here: http://www.amazon.com/Trial-Court-United-States-Supreme/dp/0828320128/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1331918585&sr=8-12
I am the 99%.
This is why I don't have a problem with this. Let people get their Guinness on in a nice mindless way with one parade not-chalked full of advocacy groups and causes.
As long as you're getting sh!tfaced to honor a saint, it's all good.
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home DYeah except its not about keeping it advocacy-free. They have plenty of groups and causes represented, just not gay ones. Get it?
I mean, the argument still holds that it is a private group that can do whatever it wants, but let's not make this into anything more noble than it is.
Why does the city allow the parade to continue? Can't they deny the organizers permits and then just hold a "public" parade?
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Marry me. I bring this up every year and people look at me like I've grown a 2nd head. Patrick is a boy's name. Hence, Paddy. Patricia = Patty.
I can't stand going out for St. Paddy's day anymore. There were two good bars I'd go to with my BFF that weren't drunken riots but that was 10 years ago now. We'd have mass at St. Patrick's (in gaelic) and then head out for some rashers, sausage, fried eggs, etc. and a pint of Guinness. But now she lives in Illinois so...
Anyway, sl?inte mhaith!
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If this is such a private affair, perhaps they shouldn't bill it as the "one and only Official" South Boston parade (http://www.southbostonparade.org/index-3.html). That in and of itself I'm assuming is a direct shot at the Peace Parade.
It's legal, but it's just garden variety homophobia.
Maybe they do because it is "The second-largest parade in the country, this annual procession is seen in person by more than 600,000 people and aired live on TV." It's not homophobic. It's a St. Patrick's Day parade that the organizers want the focus to be on a St. Patrick's Day celebration.