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Gay anti-bullying group booted from Cincinnati Saint Patrick’s Day parade

GLSEN group not wanted at ‘Catholic holiday’ event says report

PATRICK COUNIHAN,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Saturday, March 16, 2013, 7:36 AM

Updated Saturday, March 16, 2013, 10:47 AM

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The St Patrick's Day parade in downtown Cincinnati.

Organizers of Cincinnati’s St Patrick’s Day parade have banned a leading gay and lesbian group because their event is based around a Catholic feast day.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) believes it has been banned because parade bosses don’t want a gay and lesbian group affiliated with the Catholic event.

GLSEN, says they were told by organizer Chris Schulte, “It’s an Irish Catholic parade, and we don’t want any members of the gay and lesbian community to be affiliated."

The Huffington Post reports that city councilman Chris Seelbach told local media that he was informed that GLSEN could not participate in Saturday’s Parade because of the holiday’s Irish Catholic roots.

An anti-bullying organization, GLSEN seeks to eliminate prejudices based on sexual orientation and/or gender affiliation in schools by spreading education and awareness.

Seelbach told CityBeat: “I was floored when I heard the news. You know, the city helps fund this parade, and the city has made it very clear that we will not tolerate any kind of discrimination against gay people.”

In a statement, GLSEN’s Greater Cincinnati Co-chair Josh Wagoner said: “Everywhere we go, we encounter parents and youth who need our support. Our visible participation makes a difference.

“We are horrified by the message this sends to LGBT youth, who suffer constant bullying and discrimination, that they are not welcome in Cincinnati.”

The report adds that money sent in by members of the GLSEN Greater Cincinnati chapter - who had marched in last year’s parade - was returned and the group’s invitation was reneged.

Ohio’s WLWT has reported that GLSEN applied to participate in the parade before the deadline.

Seelbach has tweeted that other city representatives have since decided to opt out the parade because of the anti-gay stance.

He tweeted: “So far, Qualls, Young, Simpson, Sittenfeld, Moroski, Landsman & myself have w/drawn from your parade b/c of your antigay choice.”

GLSEN has also created an online petition in hopes of convincing the organizers to allow them to participate in the parade.

The report adds that a South Boston politician has tried to make the traditional parade more inclusive in her community in Massachusetts.

It says Massachusetts Senate candidate Maureen Dahill started a petition for an all-inclusive St. Paddy’s parade, that would include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups in the South Boston celebration.

Dahill said: “I am proud to be from South Boston. South Boston is a vibrant community. It’s time we showed our neighborhood in its true light and allowed gays and lesbian groups to march in the parade.”

See more: St Patrick's Day , LGBT

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jfmulligan | Mar 19, 2013, 04:10 PM EDT

re: howareya- why are you being such a dunce? IF every other group get to march with a banner EXCEPT a gay group that is pure prejudice and hate. If you advocated for a bannerless parade or in fact there was a single banner maybe your position would be worth discussing.

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howareya | Mar 19, 2013, 02:50 PM EDT

Bocktherobber...Okay, St. Patrick was a Christian saint. It is believed he was sent to be the first bishop of Ireland by POPE Celestine I. So I'm assuming he was Catholic. Secondly, my point was that the feast day of St. Patrick is recognized as a Catholic feast day. Maybe other religions also recognize it...I don't know. But I'm saying parades are not religious. Thirdly, you did not answer my question as to why gay groups insist on marching a gay groups. They are certainly all welcome to march in the parade as Irishmen/women, Irish Americans etc. So why does it have to be Gay Irishmen. That was my point. We can accept everyone but do we have to accept them in divisions of Gay, Straight or otherwise?

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redhand32 | Mar 19, 2013, 10:53 AM EDT

Let See. I'm doing the math. Gay marriage has been around somewhere in the States for about 2 years ? I will be celebrating my 4oth heterosexual Wedding Anniversary this October, even renewing our vows in Hawaii this summer. So far, my travel agent hasn't informed us that we are imminent danger from the LBGT community who would shut the whole thing down, perhaps kill us. Yet, I know that we should be afraid, very afraid that our "Traditional marriage is in imminent danger of going up in smoke, not worth the paper it isn't written on !

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BrianO | Mar 19, 2013, 09:30 AM EDT

Ahh had a gay time at the St. Patricks day festivities in Boston, not sure if those I engaged in celebrating with were homosexual or not, as no one felt the need to exclaim their sexual preferences, and no one knew I was a transparent oaf as I felt no need to exclaim my transparent oafyness.

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Bocktherobber | Mar 18, 2013, 05:52 PM EDT

Howareya -- Work it out. St Patrick was a Christian saint, not a Catholic one. And besides, Ireland these days, unlike Irish America, is a place that welcomes Catholics, atheists, gays and straights. What a pathetic national day it would be if it excluded so many Irish people. I think the best thing to do would be to hand over the St Patrick's Day franchise to the AOH and start a new one back here in Ireland. We could have parades in Ireland that excluded overweight Irish-American bigots.

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durtymurphy | Mar 18, 2013, 04:22 PM EDT

If Gay Sex offends you then vote to let them Marry. ( That usually puts an end to the Sex)

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maryosullivan | Mar 18, 2013, 02:12 PM EDT

Odd isn't gays are not allowed when every corrupt political character is welcomed. Actually, I can't imagine why they would want to associate with such bigots

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howareya | Mar 18, 2013, 01:31 PM EDT

Okay...my usual question. Why do the gay groups insist on marching in the St. Patrick's Day parades as "gay groups."? Why can they not march as Irishmen/women or Irish Americans just like everyone else? We don't have people marching as "straight" Irish? And, St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday. It is the celebration of the feast of St. Patrick, a Catholic saint. I remember well picking shamrocks and wearing them to Mass on that day. It was not a drinking holiday. The St. Patrick's Day parades are not religious processions but an Irish celebration. So there is a difference in the two. However, I still say...everyone is welcome to march in the parades as Irishmen, Irish Americans or those that love Ireland. We don't have to differentiate based on sexual preferences all the time, do we? And no, I am not a homophobe...my daughter is gay and I love her as well as her partner. And to top it off, she agrees with me!!!!

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howareya | Mar 18, 2013, 01:30 PM EDT

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STEVENSTAR | Mar 18, 2013, 11:45 AM EDT

WE IRISH CITIZENS HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH GAY PEOPLE UNLIKE ALOT OF HOMOPHOBIC AMAERICANS .. AS A MATTER OF FACT IN A RECENT REFERENDUM THERE WAS 75% OF PEOPLE IN FAVOUR OF GAY MARRIAGE.. HOW MANY REAL IRISH CITIZENS WERE AT THIS AMERICAN EVENT ?? ID DOUBT VERY FEW ... ITS AMERICANS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GAY PEOPLE AND AMERICANS SHOULD PLEASE STOP HI JACKING OUR NATIONAL DAY AND CULTURE TO SPREAD THIS WHOLE ANTI GAY THING....DO IT ON 5TH OF JULY YOUR OWN NATIONAL DAY AND STOP TRYING TO PORTRAY US IRISH AS ANTI WHEN WE ARE NOT .. I FIND IT REALLY OFFENSIVE!!

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olovely | Mar 18, 2013, 08:15 AM EDT

Allow me, an Irish citizen, to tell you where to go instead IrelandNorth. Maybe take the last vestiges of your homophobic and racist fellow travelers with you (along with the snakes, eh?)

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IrelandNorth | Mar 18, 2013, 06:13 AM EDT

Dublin City Council Saint Patrick's Day parade here in the Irish capitol Dublin, Ireland was marred by uncouth foreign nationals subcontracted as parade stewards to compensate the Gardá ban on overtime. Undoubtedly, some may consider this Irish citizen churlish for not enjoying being told grufly where to go in his own city by someone who probably isn't even a citizen themselves.

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EphraimKibbey | Mar 18, 2013, 02:02 AM EDT

Sorry to get to this article so late but we spent the day celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Actually we have been celebrating all weekend here in Cincinnati. We took our 6 month old grandson and his parents to Cladagh, a pub in Newport, Kentucky just across the Ohio for his first St. Patrick's Day. I taught their bartender how to make a "Black Nail" highball. She got quite good at it. While we are not parade enthusiasts, as a City of Cincinnati taxpayer, I resent my tax money being used for ANY event that is not open to everyone. Unlike some of the LGBT groups mentioned below at other parades, I have not heard anything about misbehavior by this group in previous events. If, as it seems, the only reason for banning them this year was that this was a RELIGIOUS/CATHOLIC parade then I believe that all public funding should be withdrawn in the future as it must violate the separation of church and state for my tax money to be used to support it. Perhaps all of the non-Catholics should boycott it next year as well since we do not subscribe to all of the tenets of that religion and so must assume we too are unwelcome. While we are at it perhaps we should start boycotting all of the Catholic School Festivals as well as they probably don't want anyone there spending money who does not follow their beliefs fully. Wasn't St. Patrick chastised by Rome in his own day for not following their brand of Catholicism? This was a silly, bigoted decision made by a tiny group of small-minded individuals who will hopefully no longer be making decisions for next years St. Patrick's Day parade.

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falconflash | Mar 18, 2013, 01:21 AM EDT

Agreed Ken....this company is an anti-Irish anti-Catholic one and when you defent the Church against what homos, abortionists and femi-nazis say they cut ME off, and not them.

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olovely | Mar 17, 2013, 09:36 PM EDT

Professional bigots like Ken from Dublin, merefalow and anglo-norman infest discussion boards internationally with their "it's the gay bashers who are really being bullied!" nonsense. They're old, tired, sad, and unconvincing.

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