Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day parade finally ends ban on LGBTQ+ groups

After over 60 years of exclusion, the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York will finally allow LGBTQ+ groups to join.

Organizers for the celebration have invited The Pride Center of Staten Island, which had been directly banned from participating, to march in the 2025 celebration under their own banner. The change in attitude comes after a change in leadership on the committee, first reported by SILive.com.

“The Richmond County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee wishes to announce that the Staten Island Pride Center has been invited to march, under their own banner, in the 2025 Saint Patrick’s Day Parade ... This invitation has been extended by new leadership of the parade committee, installed on Oct. 30, 2024," the committee said in a statement reported by the outlet.

"The parade committee is entrusted with ensuring the focus of the parade remains upon Saint Patrick, the history, traditions, culture and faith of the Irish people. In this endeavor, the leadership of The Pride Center has assured the parade committee that they are ready to provide support to the parade in fulfilling this obligation."

The Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day parade was the only parade to forbid LGBTQ+ groups from participating. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan ended its two-decade ban on LGBTQ+ groups in 2014, and for the first time in 2022, the Bronx’s St. Patrick’s Day parade allowed an LGBTQ+ group to march openly.

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The decision to exclude LGBTQ+ groups from Staten Island's parade for so long fell largely on just one person, former main organizer Larry Cummings, who was recently replaced. He told New York-based newspaper The Irish Voice in 2018 that the parade "is not a political or sexual identification parade" and that "gays can march, but not under a banner."

The city responded this year by hosting a second parade, organized by the nonprofit Staten Island Business Outreach Center. The new parade, dubbed the Forest Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Parade, welcomed LGBTQ+ delegations and their employees.

There will only be one unified parade following the decision of the new committee leadership. Carol Bullock, Executive Director of The Pride Center of Staten Island, said in a statement that the group that the group will happily participate.

“We are truly honored to be invited to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade," she wrote. "This event is a time-honored tradition that brings people together from all walks of life to celebrate Irish culture, and we are excited to be part of this vibrant community celebration.”