LGBTQ groups march under own banner for first time in Staten Island St. Paddys parade: Huge day for the queer community
An LGBTQ group marched for the first time under its own banner at Staten Island’s St.Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday in what organizers called a “huge day for the queer community.”The parade — the last major local St.
Paddy’s march to have an exclusionary ban on such groups — decided in November to allow the community-based Pride Center of Staten Island to partake in the annual event, now in its 61st year, according to SILive.KC Hankins, a 32-year-old organizer in the queer community, was thrilled to see parade officials finally come around.“After well over a decade of [denying] LGBT people marching in the parade, we are finally allowed,” Hankins said.“It’s a huge day for the queer community to be welcomed in our own community.“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.”The parade stepped off at Forest Avenue and Hart Boulevard around 12:30 p.m., and spectators greeted the new participants with overwhelming cheers and applause.“This is just a real win for this community … out here,” said Mayor Eric Adams, who marched with the group.
“Just saying they’re prideful to be Irish, they’re prideful to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community — [it’s] something we always stood for.“Their resiliency showed that if you stand up for what is right, you’re going to always win,” said Hizzoner — who was indicted on bribery charges last year and headed to trial till the Trump White House recently nixed the case against him, at least for now.“Congratulations to all of them and what they’ve accomplished,” Adams said of the group’s inclusion Sunday.The Staten Island parade has been the lone local anti-LGBTQ holdout for years.
The Throggs Neck parade in The Bronx, for example, allowed organized members of the LGBTQ community to march under a banner starting in 2022, and Manhattan’s mammoth event began permitting the...