On Friday, March 2, candidate for State Senate Maureen Dahill issued a statement calling on the Allied War Veteran’s Council, the organizers of the annual South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade, to allow LGBT groups to march in the March 17 parade. State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry released a statement calling on organizers to change their position. Dorcena Forry is also a candidate for State Senate. Dahill marched in the parade in 2010. Dorcena Forry has never marched in the parade.
Many elected officials, including Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Governor Deval Patrick, boycott the parade until all can participate. Candidate for mayor, City Councillor John Connolly marched one year, but then joined the boycott. He may be the only elected official or candidate of Irish descent who will not march. Many elected officials choose to march.
Last year, the organizers rejected an application by MassEquality to march in the parade. MassEquality has applied this year but has not been notified of their standing. Members of the LGBT community have marched with groups, elected officials, and candidates, but not as LGBT identified group.
In 1992, Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Group of Boston (GLIB) applied to march in the parade and were rejected. The Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) argued in front of the United States Supreme Court in groundbreaking case Hurley v. GLIB that all should be allowed to march.
GLIB was allowed to march in 1992 and 1993 due to an order from the court. In 1994 organizers canceled the parade rather than allow GLIB to participate.
In 1995 the case went to the US Supreme Court where parade organizers claimed their First Amendment rights were being infringed upon.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June 1995 reversed the Massachusetts courts.
The Allied War Veterans Council, organizers of the parade, continue to discriminate by not allowing LGBT groups to participate.
Bay Windows has contacted Philip J. Wuschke Jr., Parade Organizer, by email and phone, asking for clarification on the official stance of the parade organizers LGBT organizations. He did not respond by deadline.
We’ve asked several elected officials for their opinion on the state of the parade.
It’s time to show Southie in its true light
Maureen Dahill
Last year over one million people visited South Boston to watch the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. With this year’s parade falling on the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, there will be likely even more people visiting our neighborhood. It’s time we showed our neighborhood in its true light and allowed gays and lesbian groups to march in the parade.
For 43 years, I have lived in South Boston. I grew up the oldest daughter in a blue-collar family. I went to St. Brigid's school and hung on Ticknor Street with a great group of girls that grew into amazing South Boston women—all of which I am still friends with today. Some of my closest friends are childhood friends who I met at the Murphy Rink or at Harry McDonough Sailing program in the summertime. I live with my husband Peter, a Southie guy and a Boston Firefighter, and our three children just a few blocks from my childhood home.
I am proud to be from South Boston. I am proud of the deep roots and the amazing people who have ultimately shaped who I am today. South Boston is a vibrant community. It is a diverse community and it is a welcoming and inclusive community. We are proud to be raising our family in this community and raising the next generation of South Bostonians.
On Friday, after turning in my certified nomination papers, my name was officially placed on the ballot for the First Suffolk District Senate seat. I felt the need to speak my mind of something that I feel strongly about. Our parade, the St. Patrick's Day Parade, should reflect the neighborhood for what it is. I was hoping to generate a conversation with elected officials and parade organizers to put the past behind us and usher in a new era of South Boston. A South Boston that doesn't discriminate. That is the South Boston that I am from.
I appreciate Representative Linda Dorcena Forry joining me in calling for LGBT groups to be allowed to march and I am continuing to outreach to the elected officials who represent South Boston to join me as well.
I am proud to have a gay brother, gay and lesbian friends and supporters. Both my brother and his husband are treated with acceptance and respect by this community. Why can't our parade reflect the same thing? I understand the Allied War Veteran’s Council won the right to include and exclude whomever they want in the parade. I respect that right and I respect the Allied War Veteran’s Council.
However, this is an opportunity to put our past behind us and to begin a new and positive chapter for all of us in South Boston. It's a simple, yet powerful gesture that could heal deep wounds.
It’s time to welcome all
Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry
I am pleased to join fellow candidate Maureen Dahill in calling upon parade organizers to accept the application of gay and lesbian groups to have an opportunity to march in this year's Evacuation Day/St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston. For too long, our sisters and brothers and friends in the LGBT community have been told they are not welcome to join in the celebration. It is about time that all people are welcome. South Boston is a welcoming and vibrant community. I am confident that the great majority of residents in the neighborhood and throughout the First Suffolk District will support this inclusionary step. I intend to proudly march in this year's parade with a wide range of my supporters— including the LGBT community. It is time for us to put the focus of this day where it belongs: On the celebration of culture and neighborhood that reflects the true spirit of Boston.
As an elected official for the past 8 years, although I attend the St. Patrick's Day breakfast, I have not participated in the parade because it has not been inclusive. I believe this year that the parade committee will do the right thing and include all groups who are part of the diverse community that we value so much in our city. If that happens, I will proudly join and march. And I appreciate all who join with me in these efforts to increase tolerance and inclusion in our public life.
Congressman Lynch is a strong supporter of equal rights for the LGBT community
The Lynch Campaign
Congressman Lynch has contacted the Allied War Veterans in an attempt to find a solution, and the Lynch for Senate campaign will have a strong presence in this year’s South Boston parade.
Congressman Lynch’s positions don’t change based on the office he’s running for. He has consistently maintained that this is a first amendment issue, and the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that private parade organizers have the right to decide which groups can march. Congressman Lynch’s support of the first amendment doesn’t change simply because he is running for Senate or because some candidates for office want to play politics.
Congressman Lynch is a strong supporter of equal rights for the LGBT community. He is a co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, and voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Student Non-Discrimination Act, and helped secure gay-marriage rights in Washington, DC.
Rep. Lynch himself will be marching in the Holyoke parade for the first time, as he continues to introduce himself to voters around Massachusetts.
Congressman Lynch has contacted the Allied War Veterans in an attempt to find a solution, and the Lynch for Senate campaign will have a strong presence in this year’s South Boston parade.
Individuals, gay or straight, have not been banned from the parade
Boston City Councilor Bill Linehan
I would love to see all people participate and enjoy the Saint Patrick’s Day/Evacuation Day Parade and participate in all the events developed around this holiday as I have. I am a supporter of rights for all and have demonstrated my commitment to the LGBT community, I support marriage equality and hope the Supreme Court overturns the Defense of Marriage Act and sends a clear and forceful message on this issue. The Parade is just one event in a series of activities that celebrates how Irish culture is intertwined into the history of our city and nation.
It is important to note that individuals, gay or straight, have not been banned from participating in the parade. I have personally marched with people of different sexual orientations in the event and will continue to encourage all to participate. Political action groups, whether progressive, conservative or otherwise have not been allowed by parade organizers. Politicians have been invited and allowed, whether elected or not to participate regardless of their sexual preference, religion, race and or political affiliations to the best of my knowledge and I would like to be informed if folks have experienced anything different.
The people of South Boston have mixed feelings about the parade for a variety of reasons. Some do not like their residential neighborhood turned into a 4 mile long venue for celebration by hundreds of thousands of people while others love the entire affair. I believe the people of South Boston are a very accepting community and open community. The number of LGBT residents in South Boston has increased dramatically and they are welcome members of the South Boston Community.
I will continue to support the LGBT community and I will march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston, just as I have and will continue to march in the Boston Pride Parade in the South End. I am willing to work with both parade organizers and members of the gay community to see that the parade is inclusive.
