Organizers of the Staten Island St. Patrick's Day Parade faced criticism after denying an LGBT group permission to march under their banner.SIWomenWhoMarch, Twitter

Pride Center of Staten Island hosts it's second 'Rainbow Run' 5K prior to St. Patrick's Day parade.

The committee for the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade faced criticism this weekend as they again denied the Pride Center of Staten Island permission to march under their banner.

Read More: Staten Island St. Patrick's Day parade again denies LGBT group

The parade was hosted on Sunday, March 3, but Carol Bullock, executive director of the Pride Center of Staten Island, revealed last month that for the second time, her group was denied permission to walk under their own banner in the parade.

Bullock said she was told the Pride Center of Staten Island banner “promoted the homosexual lifestyle" and "goes against the tenets of the Catholic Church."

The parade is organized by a local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), whose president Larry Cummings last year told the Irish Voice: “Our parade is for Irish heritage and culture. It is not a political or sexual identification parade.”

Read More: Timeline of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade’s LGBT controversy

Local politicians boycotted the parade, while leading Irish media figures criticized the organizers’ decision.

On Sunday, the day of the parade, NY1 News reporter Amanda Farinacci tweeted how local businesses on Staten Island had taken the time to put up posters showing their LGBT support ahead of the parade:

On Twitter, Staten Island Borough President Jimmy Oddo said he would not be marching in the parade and that he’s working toward a more inclusive parade in the future:

Staten Island Congressman Max Rose said:

Debi Rose, Councilmember for District 49 on Staten Island and Deputy Majority Leader for the NYC Council, also chose not to walk:

Last month, after the Pride Center revealed it was denied permission to walk under its banner, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo said the group “should be able to march:”

Samantha Barry, a native of Co Cork who is now at the helm of Glamour magazine at Conde Nast in New York City, shared her frustrations about the committee’s decision on Instagram:

“The ban of a local gay group marching in the Staten Island St Patrick’s Day parade is ludicrously bigoted and DOES NOT represent modern Ireland,” Barry wrote on her post.

“You don’t represent any version of Irishness or Ireland that I know,” she added.

Similarly, Donie O’Sullivan, a native of Co Kerry who now reports for CNN from the US, tweeted:

Despite not being able to march under their banner, the Pride Center of Staten Island for the second time hosted a ‘Rainbow Run 5K’ prior to the parade. 

The group said they also handed out both Irish and rainbow pride flags before the parade.