By Alex Christodoulides
The marchers were not only of Irish heritage but also Hispanic, black, Asian and from other boroughs, spanned all ages and even included canines.Unlike other St. Patrick's parades in the five boroughs, this one welcomes gay and lesbian marchers and gains momentum every year. It was founded in 2000 after the Manhattan parade along Fifth Avenue refused to welcome openly gay marchers.Before the parade stepped off, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who is a lesbian and of Irish descent, spoke about the event's significance.”Every step down Skillman Avenue is a step closer to Fifth Avenue,” she told marchers.Bagpipers and marching bands sounded the way east along the avenue as observers wearing green and waving Irish flags cheered. The cloggers of the Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance skipped along in yellow T-shirts.Besides the obvious Irish groups, the Sunnyside parade welcomed gay rights organizations, including Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Radical Queers Resist and Housing Works to draw attention to their causes.There were also some not-so-obvious Irish groups, like Keltic Dreams, a clogging troupe from PS 59 in the Bronx, whose members were black, Hispanic and white, led by an enthusiastic coach and seeking donations toward their dream of going to Ireland later this spring to compete there. Representatives of the Queens NAACP carried a banner of freed slave Frederick Douglass, who visited Ireland during the 1848 potato famine. The Mexican community honored the San Patricios, Irish immigrants who defended the Mexicans in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, and the Quetzalcoatl Group from Brooklyn twirled along the route wearing the colorful traditional circle-skirted dresses of Mexican folk dancers.”Isn't this the Irish parade?” one woman asked in amusement as that last group passed by her.In Ireland's 1916 Easter Proclamation, the nation committed itself to “cherishing all the children equally,” which is behind parade organizers' all-inclusive approach to the event. In previous years, hecklers and protesters have marred the parade's cheerful mood, but few to none were out Sunday.The parade this year included marchers from non-Irish, non-gay groups such as Veterans for Peace, who carried signs demanding the safe and immediate return home of American troops as well as the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The May 1 Coalition, an immigrant rights group, marched under an English-Spanish banner. Pro-bicyclist group Transportation Alternatives sent a contingent of two-wheeled marchers, and one man even wore a kilt-like skirt as he walked alongside his bike.Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
