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Take Action: NYC Saint Patricks Day Parade sends Message of Hatred and Intolerance
Take Action: NYC Parade sends Message of Hatred and Intolerance
Take action and pass this message on.
GLBT Irish have again been forbidden to participate in a parade which is supposed to celebrate their heritage and culture.
The Irish are a proud people, but they should be ashamed of this parade and the hate it represents.
The Supreme Court has ruled that this parade is a private affair, but it is funded by public city and government funds!
The parade now represents the same intolerance and bigotry that the Irish immigrants have fought for over two centuries.
We urge you all to boycott the New York City parade, speak out, take action, and Protest against this government and AOH funded bigotry, homophobia, and intolerance and exclusion of GLBT people.
Urge the Irish not to participate until changes are made to include all people.
Contact any media outlets who broadcast the parade, including NBC.
Write to your newspapers and call your local radio and television stations.
Since GLBT Irish have been banned from the New York City St Patricks Day Parade, all are urged to protest and boycott the parade, why not look to the Emerald Isle, where everyone is welcome to march in the parades!
I urge you to echo the fire and fight of the Irish spirit and get involved in this struggle for tolerance and equality f all people regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Lets echo the Irish motto of "Gentle When Stroked, but Fierce when Provoked"!
I urge you to take action today.
An alternative inclusive parade takes place in Queens, New York on an earlier date, but we need to confront the sanctioned hatred at the big parade on FifTh Avenue.
Write, call, fax, and email government officials to voice your dismay at this AOH and government sanctioned hatred and intolerance.
Demand that New York City deny next year's parade permit unless all groups who register to march are allowed.
Get contact information at www.congress.org
Contact New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg here:
Phone: (212) 639-9675
Fax: (212) 788-2460
Fax: (212) 788-2460
City of New York City
1 Centre Street
New York City, NY 10007-1200
1 Centre Street
New York City, NY 10007-1200
Contact New York Governor David Paterson here:
Albany Office:
State CapitolAlbany, New York 12224
Phone: (518) 486-4623
Fax: (518) 486-4170
Contact NBC and other Media here:
Website: www.msnbc.com/news
Phone: (212) 664-4444
Fax: (201) 583-5453
Address: 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112
Phone: (212) 664-4444
Fax: (201) 583-5453
Address: 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112
Contact the Ancient Order of Hibernians Here:
Greater Gospel Temple Aoh
2408 E 83rd St
Cleveland, OH 44104
(216) 231-6068
2408 E 83rd St
Cleveland, OH 44104
(216) 231-6068
AOH President John Meehan Jr
New York City residents should call 311 and register a complaint.
ST PATRICK'S DAY
BAD IMAGE - http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/bannerad.asp?ADLOCATION=4000&PAG=461&BRD=2729&LOCALPCT=50&AREA=488&VERT=17770&NAREA=&barnd=3533 (must exist and begin with http) |
The New York St. Patrick's Day still excludes queers - and in fact, the organizers say that the message of their parade is explicitly anti-gay, and religious ("Luck's Forever Dublin," by Winnie McCroy, Mar. 6-12). In spite of the city's anti-discrimination laws, uniformed police, firefighters, and other city officials march under this message. By contrast, the St. Pat's for All parade March 2 in Queens was a safe space for celebration of LGBT people's important place in Irish communities.
There, just about everyone who was asked signed pledge cards affirming their boycott of the Fifth Avenue parade. Signers included Irish and Irish-American community activists, labor leaders, and some elected officials, as well as LGBT people of every stripe.
But we were disturbed to find some marchers at St. Pat's for All, including some elected officials, who planned to march in the homophobic parade too. Electeds like Mayor Bloomberg have frequently joined in both - claiming to support queers in Queens, and then marching in the anti-gay - and much more public - Manhattan parade alongside conservative, religious-right homophobes. It's a shameful trick, but it works for them as long as queers only notice what happens in Queens, and homophobes focus on Fifth Avenue.
That's why it's so important for us to confront homophobia where it still marches, at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Manhattan. The parade is a major political and cultural event, broadcast nationally. The message of hate it carries matters very much. At least three queer youth have already been killed this year by other kids who were taught to fear them, and religious vitriol is gaining acceptance around the country. To challenge the systemic homophobia that's still wreaking violence on our communities, we have to leave our safe spaces and confront homophobes in the spaces they control.
All are welcome to join Irish Queers in protest at the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade - March 17th, 11a.m. at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Emmaia Gelman
JF Mulligan
For Irish Queers
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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
