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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15 March 2006
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
Boycott
the New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade
On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican
Socialist Committees of North America issue the following statement about the continued exclusion of Irish and Irish Americans
who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered from the annual Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York City and endorse the
call for a boycott of the parade.
The New York City Saint Patrick's Day parade is the largest
Irish-themed parade
held in the United States every year. The parade organisers have repeatedly barred Irish and Irish Americans who are gay,
lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered from marching in the parade under their own banner. The parade is organised by the Ancient
Order of Hibernians, a sectarian and reactionary organisation which believes it has a right to decide who can and can't celebrate
their Irish heritage in public on Saint Patrick's Day in New York City. The first St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City
was held in 1762 and was organised by Irish Protestants as a public protest to fight widespread discrimination against Irish
people.
We endorse the call of the Irish Queers organisation for a boycott of the parade. Irish Queers will hold a
sideline protest and picket on the east side of Fifth Avenue at 57th Street beginning at 10:30 am on March 17th. We call on
everyone who supports equal rights for sexual minorities, and anyone who opposes sectarian organisations like the AOH hijacking
a parade that is supposed to be about expressing pride in Irish heritage to boycott the parade and participate in this protest.
We especially call on republicans and republican socialists to stand in solidarity with Irish or Irish Americans who are being
discriminated against by a group of bigots.
This is nothing new for the New York City parade, which has also historically
excluded people of color, women, and people in wheelchairs until resistance forced the AOH to change those policies. In the
early 1980s, activists protesting the British government's policy of criminalising republican and republican socialist prisoners
of war were attacked and forcibly removed from the parade. In 1991, the AOH physically ejected supporters of political prisoner
Joe Doherty for wearing sashes in support of the campaign to free him.
Members of the Bloody Sunday Campaign attempting to draw attention to the thirteen unarmed civilians murdered
at a civil rights protest in the North of Ireland were also banned from participating. Activists opposing the imprisonment
of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey's daughter Roisin were thrown out for handing out roses to call attention to her case. For
over thirty years, the Irish Republican Socialist Party has supported equality for gays and lesbians, beginning with the
party's first Ard-Fheis (convention) in 1975, when it became one of the first parties in Ireland to support gay rights. The
IRSP became the first party in Ireland to explicitly include bisexuals and transgendered people in the equality statement
passed at its 2000 Ard-Fheis, which stated, "The IRSP affirms its commitment to full equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals,
and transgendered people." In conclusion, we stand with Irish Queers in saying that Saint Patrick's Day in New
York City should be a celebration for all people of Irish descent, not just those who are heterosexual Catholics. Catholic,
Protestant, or Dissenter; heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered; we all have a right to express pride in
our Irish heritage and this is what the New York City Saint Patrick's Day parade should celebrate, the diversity of the Irish
and Irish Americans instead of a narrow minded and exclusionary definition of who is Irish. ### Irish Republican
Socialist Committees of North America PO Box 8266 Austin TX 78713-8266 USA irscna@irsm.org http://www.irscna.org/ http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html
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