The Staten Island St. Patrick's parade wasn't all about Bloomberg. Homophobia, that old St. Pat's bugaboo, made an appearance as well. Turns out that while the dispute regarding the Tea Party and Young Dems marching was resolved last week before the parade another issue, this one with the LGBT group Staten Island Pride, did not come to such a friendly resolution. That one even led to some drama, caught on video, at the actual march.
The story goes like this: Earlier, the Young Dems, under the impression that no political groups could march in the Staten Island St. Patrick's parade, asked to have the Tea Party removed from the event. When it came out that in fact political groups were allowed to march, the Dems changed their tune and signed up to walk the route too. Meanwhile, Staten Island Pride also asked to march in the historically inclusive parade. And initially they were told they could march, but only if "they agreed not to carry a banner that would violate Catholic doctrine."
Staten Island Pride wasn't loving that idea, so they asked for help from City Council Speaker, Irishwoman and open lesbian, Christine Quinn. Which was apparently a big no-no. At this point they say they were told they simply couldn't march in the parade. "The told us we couldn't march because we contacted Christine Quinn," said Gerard Mawn, a Staten Island Pride co-founder, told the News. "I was stunned."
This development led a number of politicians, including Quinn and Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, to announce on Sunday that they would not be walking in Staten Island as long as its new homophobic policies continue. "Everybody makes their own decision," Quinn said. "'Don't Ask Don't Tell' has been repealed. The military is no longer discriminating against LGBT people but yet parades in New York City are. It baffles the mind."
Some members of Staten Island Pride chose instead to walk in the Queens parade. But that didn't mean the headache was over. At the parade an NYU student named St. Jermaine Endeley, who was walking with the Young Dems, was hassled by a parade authority yesterday over a lapel pin he was wearing in support of the Staten Island Pride. A lapel pin.
As you can see in this video, 70-year-old Dennis McKeon (whose daughter is reportedly a co-founder of the Staten Island Tea Party), repeatedly tries to push Endeley (carrying the American flag) off the route:
When asked about the incident McKeon told the Post "If they weren't gay, what were they doing marching with ribbons? [The Young Democrats] chose to bring gays into the march with them. That went against the regulations of the parade."
Meanwhile, parade officials insist that Staten Island Pride was not banned from the parade. They were simply banned from carrying a banner.
