A display of Irish pride!
Spectators cheer on fi rst LGBTQ marchers in Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade
MAKING HISTORY: (Clockwise from top) Local pols including Assemblyman Robert Carroll, far left, Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, center left in
green scarf, Borough President Adams, middle right, and Councilman Brad Lander, far right, marched on March 17 along with members of the Brooklyn
Irish LGBTQ Organization, the fi rst group of its kind to formally join the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Buckley School of Irish Dance students
smiled for the camera. A pint-sized spectator showed her Irish spirit. Photos by Caroline Ourso
COURIER LIFE, M M BR B G ARCH 22–28, 2019 3
BY COLIN MIXSON
This parade brought the cheer
— and the queers!
Lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer Brooklynites
proudly celebrated
their Irish heritage with hundreds
of others on March 17,
when they marched through
Park Slope during the borough’s
eponymous St. Patrick’s
Day parade for the fi rst
time in the event’s 44-year history.
Organizers’ decision to diversify
the parade thrilled its
spectators, who cheered the
LGBTQ marchers on as they
stepped along the pavement,
according to a participant.
“We were just overwhelmed
with the positive response that
we received, both from other
marchers in the parade, and
from people along the sides,”
said Lisa Fane, a co-founder
of the Brooklyn Irish LGBTQ
Organization, whose members
joined the March 17 procession.
“We had a great time.”
The privately funded
Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade
— which kicks off near
15th Street before snaking
down Seventh Avenue, turning
onto Garfi eld Place, and
then heading back up towards
15th Street via Prospect Park
West — began in 1976, and
has grown to become Kings
County’s grandest celebration
of Irish heritage, according
to its chief organizer, who
said it now attracts annual
participants from roughly 50
organizations, including the
Clann Eireann Pipe Band, the
O’Malley Academy of Irish
Dance, local Boy and Girl
Scout troops, the Ancient Order
of Hybernians, and Park
Slope’s Holy Name of Jesus
Church, where many marchers
attend mass before stepping
off each year.
“It’s a parade that the people
want,” said Brooklyn St.
Patrick’s Day Parade Chairwoman
Mary Hogan.
And earlier this year, Hogan
and fellow organizers further
expanded its ranks after
Fane, her Brooklyn Irish LGBTQ
Organization co-founder
Matthew McMorrow, and Park
Slope Assemblyman Robert
Carroll — whose grandfather
helped start the tradition —
submitted the fi rst application
to march from a queer organization
since 1999, when parade
chiefs denied an application to
march from LGBTQ advocates
with the Lavender and Green
Alliance, whose members led
protests at that year’s procession,
resulting in their arrest.
The parade’s fi rst formal
LGBTQ marchers stepped
alongside nearly 50 supporters,
including Park Slope Councilman
Brad Lander, Park Slope
Rep. Yvette Clarke, Boerum
Hill Assemblywoman Jo Anne
Simon, and Borough President
Adams, all of whom walked
with giant ribbons attached to
their jackets that combined the
colors of the Irish and rainbow
fl ags.
Grand Marshall Bernadette
Kash, the owner of the
Buckley School of Irish Dance
on Prospect Park West, led the
2019 festivities, after marching
in every incarnation of
the beloved procession since
its founding, she claimed.
“I had parents tell me the
kids couldn’t sleep the night
before they were so excited,”
said Kash, who processed
along with roughly 100 of her
students, all dressed in green.
And more pedestrians
packed the sidewalks lining
the route this year than for
marches past, perhaps due to
the parade’s newfound diversity
— or that it occurred on
the day of the holiday it celebrated,
according to Hogan.
“The fact that the parade
was on St. Pat’s helps,” she
said. “We were very happy.”