Just in time for the feast day of the patron saint of Ireland, the Associated Press decided to feature a story on New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, but if you thought it was a story on the history of the parade or Irish heritage, you’d be sadly mistaken. Instead, their story “New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Ends an Era of LGBT Exclusion,” focused more on LGBT pride than Irish pride.
Gotham's St. Patrick’s Day parade can trace its history to early 1762 and is the largest parade of its kind – featuring on average about 200,000 marchers. However, during the past 20 years, gay activists would try to "rain on their parade" by protesting alongside those who marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Beer brands like Guinness and Heineken eventually withdrew their sponsorship – let’s be honest, not having Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day is sort of like not having presents under the tree – and some liberal politicians took it a step further by boycotting the parade altogether.
Left-wing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio - who once refused to march in the past - decided to march this year because of the parade’s newfound “inclusiveness.”
Since last year, organizers have eased restrictions on prohibiting gay groups by allowing activists to join in on the parade. This year, parade board chairman John Lahey claims to invoke “the lessons of sacrifice and heroism, of love and tolerance, embodied in the Irish spirit…”
In other words, the organizers caved to political correctness and corporate pressure.
But guess what? There was never a ban on gay people participating in the parade – they most certainly could – but they couldn’t wear buttons or carry signs promoting or celebrating their homosexuality.
Why? Well first – they have their own Gay Pride Parade where they can carry whatever signs or wear whatever buttons they want, but second and more importantly, the New York City St. Patrick’s parade is organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), a social organization for Irish-American Catholics which adheres to traditional Christian teachings and ethics, including, yes, the Church’s teaching on sexuality.
While plenty of non-Catholic groups parade in the AOH’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Hibernians have no obligation to welcome groups whose ideals are contrary to that of the Order.
To be a member in the AOH yourself you must either be a Roman Catholic or an “other Catholic Rite recognized by the Pope.” Applicants are required to list their parish name and to answer “have you complied with your religious duties within the past 12 months” and “Do you belong to any Society to which the Catholic Church is opposed.”
No one in their right mind would disagree that the Order would have every right to forbid an anti-Catholic group from marching while holding signs calling the Church the "whore of Babylon." No one, you would hope, would object to the Order rejecting an application from a local Planned Parenthood chapter, in accord with Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.
Of course, you’d have absolutely no clue about the religious nature of the Order which organizes the parade from mainstream media coverage, including yesterday's AP story.
