COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Brendan Fay is the co-founder and co-chair with Kathleen Walsh D’Arcy of the St Pat’s for All Parade – New York’s 12-year-old inclusive St. Patrick’s parade. He is also the founder of the Irish LGBT group, Lavender and Green Alliance, and The Civil Marriage Trail, bringing couples across the border to Canada and Connecticut for legal marriage. Fay also volunteers with local homeless shelter in Astoria.
PERSONAL: Fay was born in 1958 in Athy, County Kildare, Ireland. He’s the son of Mary Kavanagh and Peter Fay and has five sisters and one brother. In 1971, the family moved to Drogheda where he went to primary school run by the Sisters of Mercy. Their dedication to charity and kindness to the poor was a real inspiration. When Fay was 14, he joined the Irish Christian Brothers and remained as a postulant for four years. He holds bachelors (honors) and master degrees in theology/sociology from St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland and St. John’s University.
JOB: Fay is an independent filmmaker and coordinated "Silence to Speech," a documentary series on being Irish and gay in America. He directed “A Month’s Mind” and was co-producer of "Saint of 9/11;" both documentaries about Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY Franciscan chaplain who died in the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11. Currently, he’s completing a film about gay pioneer priest John McNeill entitled “Taking a chance on God” ( takingachanceongod.com) and also working on a book about Dorothy Day called Friends of Dorothy.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “The biggest challenge for me is to take it easy, and to take enough time to enjoy the simple gifts of life – the songs, the hugs, the dance, to laugh and enjoy the gifts of friends and family and the marvels of the beautiful New York City we call home.” As an activist, Fay has two mottos: "First item on the agenda put on the kettle" and "It’s always a yes, until it’s a no."
FAVORITE MEMORY: Fay recalls taking walks with his dad in Drogheda, leaving Ireland and landing in JFK for his masters in St. John’s leading to the joy of teaching for five years in Catholic schools, as well as his wedding day in 2003 in Brooklyn to Tom Moulton.
INSPIRATION: Fay wakes up each morning at 6.30 a.m. and goes for a jog in Astoria Park feeling grateful for the gift of "another day above ground," as his father would say. “I am inspired by the simple goodness of many New Yorkers and the courage of community and peace activists like the New York Catholic Worker, which keeps the kettle going and lights the candle rather than curses the dark.” – Laura Ciminera
