February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Patrick Markey
St. Patrick’s celebrations in the Bronx were mired in controversy this week as six gay and lesbian protesters — including two city politicians — were arrested after trying to march in a Throgg’s Neck parade under the banner of an Irish gay group.
The protesters, from the New York-based gay group the Lavender and Green Alliance, were arrested and issued with summonses for disorderly conduct on Sunday after they tried to join in the parade as the marchers set off at Tremont and Lafayette Avenues, a police spokesman said.
"People came to us and said they were embarrassed. It’s a shame that what should have been a holiday celebration became a focus on the awful issue of exclusion," said Brendan Fay, a spokesman for the Alliance.
Last week, the Alliance announced that the organizers had invited them to march in the annual Throgg’s Neck parade in the northeastern section of the Bronx. It would have been the first time a gay organization had been allowed to march in a St. Patrick’s parade under its own banner. But after a story appeared in the Irish Echo, parade organizers rescinded the invitation, and refused to explain why, Fay said.
Police said among those arrested were New York State Senator Tom Duane and City Councilwoman Christina Quinn.
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March organizers could not be reached for comment. But according to sources close to the parade committee, after news of the invitation appeared in the local press, several parade officials received threatening phone calls and a number of groups involved in the march said they were ready to pull out.
"They started out with good intentions, but then several groups started beating them up," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sunday’s arrests are the latest attempt by Irish gay groups to be allowed to march in the city’s parades. Organizers of the New York’s Fifth Avenue parade have said that the march is a private affair open by invitation only.
Since 1991, another group, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization has been petitioning for permission to march in the Fifth Avenue parade. Every year, ILGO members are arrested in a civil disobedience protest in Manhattan. The group is still engaged legal action to acquire a protest permit.
The Bronx parade decision met with disappointment from several other politicians who stayed away in protest.
"I still urge all parties to try to find a solution that will allow everyone to celebrate the Irish presence in the Bronx and commemorate their patron saint, Saint Patrick. We need to bring people together, not pull them apart," Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer said in a written statement.