By Patrick Donachie
Gathering in the midst of a bitterly cold morning, hundreds celebrated the annual St. Pat’s for All parade, held on Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside Sunday.
Talk show host and activist Phil Donahue and human rights advocate Anastasia Somoza were the dual grand marshals for the parade, which celebrated its 18th consecutive year. The parade began in opposition to the exclusion of LGBT Irish groups from marching in the St. Patrick’s Parade in Manhattan, but its messages of inclusion and equality took on added heft in response to the nation’s current political climate.
“As immigrants, Irish people remember our own story as refugees fleeing famine and poverty only to arrive on the shores of the U.S. to encounter prejudice. This experience has shaped our lives and history,” said Brendan Fay, co-chair of the parade. “As Irish people we have transformed the anguish of the past into a compassionate advocacy for human rights across the globe.”
The parade drew LGBT groups, families, Gaelic organizations, politicians and people from the neighborhood, many of whom were wearing the cordially required green.
Somoza gained national recognition last summer as a primetime speaker during the Democratic National Convention on behalf of Americans with disabilities. She first marched in the Sunnyside parade in 2000, where she met Hillary Clinton, then a candidate for senator. She said she witnessed the parade grow and evolve since then, and felt confident that this year included the largest and most diverse group of participants of any prior year. She recalled that the city parade agreed to include LGBT organizations for the first time in 2016.
“It’s because this parade happened that the city parade changed,” she said. “Imagine if this parade hadn’t existed.”
Somoza, who works as a consultant with the Shield Institute for mental disabilities, stressed that she had considered the fight for inclusivity to be of vital importance before President Donald Trump’s election, but the parade’s message was sharpened in response to the administration.
“I’m part of the resistance movement because I still feel like he doesn’t know what it means to be a president for everyone,” Somoza said. “St. Pat’s For All represents the larger message that all Americans matter, no matter what.”
Many of the elected officials on hand alluded to Trump, highlighting the parade as an illustration of inclusivity as a contrast. City Comptroller Scott Stringer referred to pieces of legislation around the country affecting transgender students as a sign of what was to come from the Trump administration.
“We are working everyday, because this civil rights issue will be with us as long as this lunatic is president of the United States,” he said during remarks prior to the parade’s start. Donahue also spoke briefly to the crowd.
“We march today to convey one simple message,” he said. “The world is changing and it’s because of what you’re doing here today – freezing but standing anyway. The message is we are all God’s children.”
Afterwards, he sang a stanza of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” a romanticized ode to the Emerald Isle. At the end of the chorus, Fay stepped in and the crowd offstage joined the crowd onstage in song.
“When Irish hearts are happy, all the world seems bright and gay, and when Irish eyes are smiling, they steal your heart away,” the audience sang. A few minutes after the tune’s conclusion, the bagpipe corps at the front of the march began the parade in earnest down Skillman Avenue.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
