Gay groups still unhappy with NYC St. Patrick's parade

For the second consecutive year, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council are boycotting the nation's largest and, at 250 years, oldest St. Patrick's Day Parade.

The reason: After a backlash last year against a ban on gay groups led to de Blasio being the first mayor in 20 years to stay away from the popular event, parade organizers said they would allow only one gay group to march with a banner in this year's parade.

That unit will be OUT@NBCUniversal, a corporate group for gay employees of NBCUniversal, a parade sponsor whose local affiliate will broadcast the event Tuesday.

Cities such as Boston and Washington had gay groups in their St. Patrick's Day parades this year.

Organizers of the New York parade had long refused entry to gay groups, based on Roman Catholic opposition to homosexuality. The parade is steeped in Catholic tradition. Cardinal Timothy Dolan is this year's grand marshal.

The church, while not revising its doctrine, has become more welcoming to gay men and lesbians under Pope Francis.

New York parade organizers have said other gay groups may apply for the 2016 parade.

Organizers did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.

"We are proud to become the 1st LGBT group to march in New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade," OOUT@NBCUniversal said on its Facebook page.

In a statement issued by NBCUniversal, Craig Robinson, executive vice president and chief diversity officer, said, "We approach the opportunity with respect for the event's heritage, culture and tradition, as well as hope and excitement for this first step towards an increasingly inclusive era for the parade."

De Blasio's office said in a statement, "St. Patrick's Day parades from Boston to Dublin have opened their arms to the LGBT community. The decision by the 5th Avenue parade organizers to include one group from NBC, while a step in the right direction, is still not inclusive enough. The mayor hopes more progress can be made soon, and the parade will be more inclusive in the future, and if that happens he will be happy to participate. But until then, he will continue to decline to march."

Emmaia Gelman of the New York group Irish Queers has been pushing for a gay group to openly march in the parade for 20 years.

"The parade is still controversial," she said. Allowing an employee group of a corporate sponsor was an effort to divert attention from the issue and is not inclusiveness, she said.

Other corporate sponsors who boycotted last year have returned to the parade this year, including brewers Guinness and Heineken.

"We are delighted to announce that Guinness has made the decision to resume its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade," its parent company, Diageo, said in a written statement. "While there is still work to be done, we are pleased that the parade organizers have taken steps to allow the LGBT community to be represented. The parade is an important way for Guinness to support the Irish community, and we look forward to celebrating with millions of New Yorkers on March 17th."

In Washington, the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community led a contingent Sunday of more than 40 people carrying banners and waving gay pride rainbow flags in the capital's annual parade.

"There was no pushback," Fowler said. "The D.C. St. Patrick's parade has always been inclusive."

For example, he said, practitioners of the Chinese spiritual discipline Falun Gong marched behind them in the parade.

And for the first time in Boston, gay groups marched openly in the Irish parade Sunday.

In the past, Boston parade organizers said admitting gays would violate their Roman Catholic beliefs. In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor based on the First Amendment right of free speech.

The gay military veterans service group OutVets and gay rights group Boston Pride joined the celebration Sunday at the invitation of the sponsor, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council.

"We march today for the memories of those thousands and thousands of people who went before us, some who went to their graves in the closet," OutVets founder Bryan Bishop, an Air Force veteran, told his group before the parade.

Boston's mayors had boycotted the event since the Supreme Court ruling. This year, Mayor Marty Walsh, Gov. Charlie Baker and other Massachusetts political leaders took part.

Contributing: Associated Press