Gay & Irish on St. Paddy’s Day in the US

Each year since 1990, the Irish-American Gay and Lesbian Organization of New York City has requested to march in the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Each year the parade organizers have refused the request. In 1993, NYC Human Rights Commission mandated that the IGLO had to be included in the parade, a mandate that was overturned as “unconstitutional” by a Federal judge. The court case was predicated on free speech, asserting that the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which had organized the parade for 150 years, had the right to decide what was said in their parade, and what was not said. That legal precedent has had far deeper consequences. Underlying this battle over a quintessential celebration of Irish-Americanness, there was a question of what Irish-(American)ness is, and who gets to define that identity. Join Averill and Marissa for some of the history of the New York City and Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parades, the fight for inclusion and exclusion, and the shaping of Irish-American identities.

Show Notes

David Beriss, “Introduction: ‘If you’re gay and Irish, your parents must be English,” in Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power v2 i3 (Taylor and Francis Online, 1996), 189-196.

Richard Conway, “The Gay Ban of New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is Un-Irish,” The Guardian 

Averill Earls, “Queering Dublin: Same-Sex Desire and Masculinities in Ireland, 1884-1950,” Forthcoming Dissertation, SUNY Buffalo, 2016.

Lisa Guido, “St Patrick’s Day Parade, NYC 1991-1992” vimeo

Christopher Harrity, “Out@NBCUniversal Makes St. Patrick’s Day History,” The Advocate

Shelia Langan, “Timeline of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade LGBT Controversy,” IrishCentral 

Daniel Reynolds, “NYC Mayor Opens St. Patrick’s Day Parade to LGBT Marchers,” The Advocate

“About the AOH,” Ancient Order of Hibernians