After Six Decades, Staten Island's St. Patrick's Day Parade Welcomes LGBTQ+ Group

St. Patrick's Day is still two weeks away, but it got an early celebration on March 2 on with the Staten Island's St. Patrick's Day Parade. In another way, though, the event was tardy to the party; The annual event marked its 61st year this past Sunday, but this was the first time an LGBTQ+ group was allowed to participate openly in the parade, using its own banner, news reports noted.

The New York Post reported that "organizers called" the group's inclusion "a 'huge day for the queer community.'"

"In past years, the pride group wasn't able to because organizers had argued that the parade was a religious one and LGBTQ lifestyles conflicted with the teachings of the Catholic Church," local news channel Fox 5 reported.

The report went on to quote Pride Center of Staten Island head Carol Bullock as saying "It's been something that started before I even joined the Pride Center, so I stand on the shoulders of others.

"Today's an amazing day," Bullock added, "so I'm going to march and be really proud."

Equality advocate KC Hankins told the press that it was "a huge day for the queer community to be welcomed in our own community" and be "finally allowed" to participate in the march.

"This is a consistent effort by queer people on Staten Island to say we belong in our community, and we are going to continuously make it known that we belong," Hankins added.

New York Mayor Eric Adams marched with the group and offered "Congratulations to all of them and what they've accomplished," the Post relayed, also noting that "spectators greeted the new participants with overwhelming cheers and applause."