User:Lindalark/sandbox

The St. Pat's for All Parade started in March 5th, 2000, it was first held between Sunny side to Wood side. The Slogan of the Parade is "Cherishing All the Children of the Nation Equally" origination from the Eastern Proclamation of the Irish Republic, 1916. LGBT+ rights activist Brendan Fay founded the Parade in 2000 as a alternative celebration from the Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn St. Patrick's Day Parade. The organizers of these St. Patrick's Day Parades had prohibited any Irish LGBT+ from partaking in the parade in previous years which lead to many arrests. Ellen Duncan and Kathleen Walsh were the Co-Chair of the event. The formation of Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization ILGO in April 1988 was indirectly prompted by Brendan Fay, a relatively recent immigrant from Drogheda, Ireland, in hopes of connecting with the city’s Irish LGBT community. St. Pat's for All Parade recently celebrated it's 20th anniversary on Sunday March 3rd 2019.

The St.Pats for all parade has risen a lot of political controversy regarding discrimination of the LGBT community at the 5th Avenue St. Patrick's day parade.

The creation of the St.Pats for all parade provided a welcoming community for LGBT+ people of Irish Decent and Association. People of various cultures and backgrounds attend this parade for significant reasons. In the inaugural year of 2000, the parade attracted over 70 groups of people, including the Korean community honoring the important role that Irish nuns had played in their education, Chilean folk musicians honoring Bernardo O' Higgins, the founding father and first president of Chile, and the son of an Irish immigrant, children and their puppets, the Sunny Side Drum Corps, LGBT organizations, including Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO). Many never imagined being apart of a tradition that didn't allow anything that distracted the Catholic expression. Wood side parade stands out because it welcomes anyone who wearing of green regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation. “The St. Patrick’s parade is the most significant expression of Irish culture and celebration in this city, and the parade in Queens, for many of us, was a first-time experience. It was the first parade … since the first St. Patrick’s parade in New York City, which was in 1762, [that] was open and welcoming to all.”