Patrick the Gay Irishman Speaks Out : LGBTs Banned From Patrick's Day Parades

Being Irish, and gay, I was clearly quite disappointed to hear that New York and Boston's Saint Patrick's Day parade committees have been banning LGBT groups from the celebrations for over 20 years.

However, I was glad to hear about the resistance to these committees' homophobia. Both Boston and New York's mayors are boycotting the parade, and Guinness (possibly the biggest sponsor you could hope for in an event like the Saint Patrick's Day parade) has dropped their sponsorship of the NYC celebrations. Despite this tainting today's celebrations (because it's just not the same without Guinness), I'm rather satisfied.

"Oh Patrick, you're such a party pooper!" No, I'm glad that people are showing these narrow-minded people that this is not tolerated in modern society.

"There's no reason for this, most certainly in 2014. We're way beyond this as a country, and I wish we could get way beyond it as a parade. Boston and New York, come on!"
- Martin Walsh, Mayor of Boston

You know we're over this, right? (S)

Philip J. Wuschke Jr, one of the organisers of the Boston parade, told the Globe: "Messages of LGBT equality are not in keeping with the messages of pride in Irish heritage the parade promotes." Excuse me? "Not in keeping with the messages of pride in Irish heritage the parade promotes"? Well I'm sorry Philip, but if we're going down that road you had best change your surname.

Although gay rights may not have been greatly supported when your great-great-grandmother sailed away from Cork, Philip (because I assume you have some grain of Irish in you), right now LGBT rights are supported by the majority of the Irish population. Gay marriage in Ireland is being put to a referendum the government is so confident in the people. According to polls, 75% of Irish people support marriage equality.

As for Guinness pulling away from sponsorship, good! I think we've just witnessed the fact that if Guinness were a sponsor of Sochi, they probably would have pulled out of there too, unlike Coca-Cola (an American company, "land of the free") who didn't have the courage to say no to a big bad bully.

Yep! (S)

So, dear homophobic Paddy's Day parade organizers, I have one quick question to ask you before I get back to looking after my sheep in my thatched-roofed, white stone cottage (since you seem to be so much more attached to representing Irish heritage than anyone else, and seem to be telling real Irish people their business). What really made you think taking rainbows out of Patrick's Day was a good idea?