New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that he has decided not to march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Not since David Dinkins decided not to march in 1993 has a mayor refused to do so. Bill Donohue was delighted: He leads the Catholic League contingent every year, and does not want to march with a public official who does not want to be associated with Irish Catholics.
De Blasio said he will not march because the parade does not allow pro-gay signs. Neither does it allow pro-life ones. The great myth has always been that the St. Patrick’s Day parade is anti-gay: in previous years, Donohue has gone on the radio inviting gays to march with the Catholic League, provided they do not draw attention to themselves or to some extrinsic cause. The parade is not about homosexuals, or abortion, or anything other than honoring St. Patrick.
The mayor said he will not accede to the request by gay activists to ban city workers from marching. So kind of him—otherwise he would be looking at an insurrection.
