When tens of thousands march down Fifth Avenue next March in New York’s St Patrick’s Day parade, the rainbow flag of the gay community will be visible for the first time in the sea of green. Twenty-four years after New York’s Irish Lesbian and Gay Organisation petitioned to march, the organisers announced this week that they were lifting a ban on openly gay participation that had become such an embarrassment it threatened to bankrupt the event. Guinness withdrew sponsorship earlier this year and other sponsors were under pressure to follow suit. The first gay group to be authorised to take part in next year’s parade is from NBCUniversal, the television network that broadcasts the event, which has also faced calls to withdraw its support.
Gay and lesbian activists have given this week’s decision a cautious welcome but they are waiting to see how many gay groups will be allowed to march. Veteran campaigners, who have endured physical and verbal abuse during their long struggle for acceptance, are adamant that they must be allowed to take part under a banner identifying them as Irish gays and lesbians. New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio, who boycotted the parade this year, said the move was a step forward but added that it was too soon to say if the event would be inclusive enough for him to take part next year.
One leading New Yorker who welcomed the lifting of the gay ban was Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who will be grand marshal of next year's parade, describing it as a wise decision. The exclusion was out of tune with the gentle tone adopted by Pope Francis on issues of human sexuality. It was also out of step with attitudes among Irish-Americans, to say nothing of the Irish in Ireland, for whom gays and lesbians are an integral part of St Patrick's Day parades throughout the country. This week's move is an important step towards righting an old wrong and restoring New York's parade as the world's leading annual event for everyone who feels Irish – if only for a day.