NY Times Covers City's St. Patrick's Parade Controversy
Delighted this morning to have come across this article....
Councilman Daniel Dromm, left, and Brendan Fay of the Lavender and Green Alliance with Mayor Bill de Blasio at the Irish Consulate. Mr. de Blasio will march with the alliance, which represents gay Irish-Americans. CreditBryan R. Smith for The New York Times
N.Y. / REGION
Activists Recall Fight to Allow Gays in St. Patrick’s Day Parade
By WILLIAM NEUMAN MARCH 3, 2016
It was a moment that some feared might never come, after so many years of
viewing the St. Patrick’s Day Parade from the outside, politically and personally.
This year will be different.
Now that a group representing gay Irish-Americans will march in the parade,
activists choked up on Thursday as they recounted their battle, and celebrated Bill
de Blasio’s decision to march in the parade for the first time as mayor.
“Perhaps our hearts will be dancing all the way,” said Brendan Fay, a leader of
the group, the Lavender and Green Alliance, which will participate in the parade on
March 17.
Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, had boycotted the event during his first two years in
office because of the organizers’ stance toward gay and lesbian groups. At a news
conference at the Irish Consulate, the mayor said he would start out in the parade