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Why one city councilor won't march in the St. Patrick's Day parade
By adamg on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 11:28am
At-large Councilor Felix Arroyo tells Bay Windows he deliberately scheduled an LGBT fundraiser on Sunday:
As an At-Large City Councilor, I represent all of Boston and all of Boston's residents. I take that responsibility very seriously. An entire community that I represent is excluded from marching in the parade. While the Supreme Court said it is legally permissible to exclude LGBT groups, I cannot in good conscience march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade until everyone else can.
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Comments
Not Debating The Councillor's Point, But...
Was he invited to march? If not, it amounts to the same as me saying I won't march - not much.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
there's an open invitation to
there's an open invitation to every elected official and candidate to the parade (as long as, well, you know...). i could be running a libertarian campaign for registrar of deeds and they'd want me there, waving to the masses from an SUV playing U2 songs.
I'm sure they'll miss Felix.
I'm sure they'll miss Felix. Aren't the O'Arroyos from County Clare?
Why not march in follow-on parade?
Arroyo also says that he won't march in the follow-on parade, one mile behind, that will allow LGBT people and groups. That he chooses to do a fundraiser rather than join this new follow-on parade sounds odd.
Will people wait around to watch the follow-on parade?
If it has to stay one mile behind, that's at least a 20 minute gap between the end of the main parade and the start of the follow-on.
guess he will be too busy protesting Whole Foods in JP
.....
I went shopping at the Dedham
I went shopping at the Dedham Whole Foods the other day and discovered that it really is much more expensive to shop there than average grocery stores.
He Got My Vote!
Not bad! Invited or not, it means a lot because he says why he wouldn't march.
March in the parade a mile or so behind? No thanks, hon. I don't ride in the back of the bus unless I want to!
Arroyo is dealing correctly with exactly what these folks are: St. Patrick's Day bigots!
He gets my vote!
Cheapo
All politicians are asked to sponsor a band to accompany them in the parade. Maybe Felix would rather spend his campaign money elsewhere.
Felix, we hardly knew ye.
His opposition to the 100 good jobs that Whole Foods would bring, his promotion of racial resentment in that case, and his proposal to ban smoking in public makes me suspect he won't be an elected official next year.
start a blog
you really don't like Felix do you?
I think he's a light-weight and as cheesey a bag as pols come, but hell, they're all cheese-bags by definition -- they're politicians. Exactly how much lunch money did he beat out of you?
Are 2 separated St. Patrick's Parades an example of hatred?
Are two separated St. Patrick's Parades an example of remaining vestiges of hatred in the South Boston neighborhood?
Possibly, but, more
Possibly, but, more importantly, why is the Boston City Council not posting minutes of their meetings and what the hell is going on with the Boston Public Library?
What a grandstanding POS...
LGBT individuals are not banned from marching in the parade; they never have been.
Does Felix have something against the Irish?
I like how you specified 'individuals'
Since all the Supreme Court did was issue a ruling in a case called Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston.
So Felix was wrong
when he said that LGBT people are excluded from particpating in the parade. In fact, they never have been.
Thank you for making that point even clearer, Adam- good work!
The parade bans gays. Period.
The parade consists of people marching in groups . Groups of gays and lesbians are not allowed. Therefore, gays and lesbians are banned.
Incorrect
The parade does NOT ban gay, lesbian, et al, people from marching in it. It never has. Gay and lesbian people are not precluded from marching in the parade.
Keep trying to spin it otherwise, but facts are facts.
I'm going to pull a Barney Frank here
On what planet do you spend most of your time? Wasn't the relevant court decision referenced?
(Oh, and "Patrick Fitz Gerald" and "Gerald Fitz Patrick"; I see what you did there.)
who cares about this parade
who cares about this parade based on hatred, drunkenness, and swearing? Grown men acting like children in front of children.
The continued gentrification of Southie can't happen fast enough for me.
You're good with wordplay
Can a group of gay men march in the parade?
No.
Two separate issues
No, I don't actually give a rat's ass about this parade, but it does piss me off that it's a fairly mainstream event that's considered by many to be family-friendly and pro-community and whatnot, rather than viewed as the disgusting display of hatred that it is.
Every year at work I have a lot of nice, middle-class, non-drunken, non-hateful families talking about how they plan to take their kids to this parade. I always want to ask them if they're aware that the parade is discriminatory and is teaching their children that not all people are equal.
I can't do this though, because we live in a homophobic culture where I'd get in trouble with my job for "bringing politics into things" when actually teaching hatred isn't any more political than when I talk to parents about teaching their kids not to hit.
To the kids it's parade with
To the kids it's parade with bands and music and al the other stuff in parades that excites kids.
The kids, in fact, don't give a rat's ass if some people with an agenda (and probably no redeeming kid-entertainment value) are not marching.
The parade isn't teaching children anything. It's a parade.
Please give one example of where hatred is displayed during the walking of the parade.
There would actually be a lot more hatred on display if various political groups were allowed to march and turn the parade into some crazy walking/alternating pro/anti rally on the war or cause of the moment.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet your employer doesn't want politics of any sort brought into the workplace, not just yours.
Sounds reasonable to me.
Why do I get the feeling that you don't want ALL political views discussed
Not political
The idea that there are different types of people and families and they all deserve equal respect is not a political issue. It's only viewed as one because of homophobia. The issue is absolutely no different than talking to kids about not hitting or not using hurtful words, and talking to parents about not abusing their kids, which we're of course required to do at work.
If we were going to really and truly follow the guidelines of the leading experts on emotional health in children, we would be telling each and every family that it's imperative that they raise their children in a way that it's explicitly affirmed that gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender people are great, and taught each and every day that they may or may not grow up to be one of these people, and that that's OK. This isn't politics.
If you're comfortable going somewhere where it's been expressly stated that GLBT folks are not allowed "but I'll go anyway because there's music and pretty costumes," then you are perpetuating homophobia.
Yawn. See you in Southie.
Yawn. See you in Southie.
Not precluded?
Wait, Fitz-whatever, this is confusing. I'm not from here, so please explain: Who IS precluded, banned etc from marching, participating etc in the official parade?