As gay and lesbian groups face another year of exclusion from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on 5th Avenue, a new documentary profiles an alternative event in Queens that welcomes all
Every year on March 17th, the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade is held on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It is the oldest and largest celebration of Irish heritage and culture in the United States. It is also the most controversial. Despite almost two decades of protest and resistance, lesbian and gay groups are not permitted to march.
Brendan Fay, an Irish immigrant and gay rights activist, spent years fighting his exclusion from the parade. After years of protests and arrests, he founded the St. Pat’s For All Parade, a grassroots celebration of ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity set in Sunnyside, Queens. In The Other Parade, we follow Brendan during the week leading up to the eighth annual parade, experiencing with him both the joys and frustrations of organizing a parade that garners national press, yet operates on a shoestring budget.
Quotes from the film:
Brendan Fay : “People say, ‘Parades? Who Cares?’ But I’ve come to understand parades as vital expressions of community and cultural life in the city. In all their gaudiness and madness, parades are especially unique to life in New York, because every community has its moment on the avenue, and what began as a response to exclusion on Fifth Avenue, became something beautiful in New York City: An inclusive St. Patrick’s parade.”
James Barker (5th Ave parade organizer) : “You either abide by the teachings of St Patrick and the church or you don’t. It’s as simple as that. It’s black and white.”
Tom Moulton (St. Pat’s For All organizer): “It’s not a gay parade, it’s an all inclusive St. Patrick’s Parade.”
Christine Quinn (New York City Council Speaker and longtime St. Pat’s For All supporter): “We tried to march in the Bronx, in the local parade up there, and none of the LGBT folks were allowed to march. So myself and State Senator Tom Duane and Brendan and some other folks ended up getting arrested that year.”
Malachy McCourt (Author, Actor and longtime St. Pat’s For All supporter): “Brendan Fay is a man who has been wounded by bigotry and discrimination, and unlike a lot of people, he did not become bitter.”