NYC Mayor Continues Boycott of Antigay St. Patrick's Day Parade

The mayor of New York will not be marching in the city's primary St. Patrick's Day parade, due to its organizers' antigay policies.

Bill de Blasio braved the snow, cold, and outer boroughs last weekend to march in the LGBT-friendly St. Pats for All Parade in Queens.

For the second year in a row, however, he is refusing to march in the more prominent Manhattan counterpart, which has not fulfilled on its promise to life a ban on LGBT-identified marchers by 2015.

De Blasio is the first mayor in 20 years to decline an invitation to march in the Manhattan parade, which is considered the oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world.

Though the weather was inclimate during last Sunday's parade, de Blasio had a cheery disposition and a festive green tie.

"It's a sunny day in my world," he said, in remarks reported by LGBTQNation.

"You are a hardy troupe," he later told the crowd of hundreds who gathered, despite the frigid clime. "You are here to celebrate no matter what. That is what pride is all about -- pride in the fact that in New York City you can be whoever you are."

"A society for everyone is a society where everyone is respected, where everyone is embraced, where everyone has a say at the table," he added.

In addition to de Blasio, the Irish beer company Guinness also dropped its endorsement last year of the Manhattan parade, which is scheduled to take place March 17 down Fifth Avenue.

Only one LGBT group, OUT at NBC Universal, has been permitted to march this year, a historic move that leads many to believe that more will be allowed to participate in the festivities in the future.