AN OPEN LETTER | Dear Mayor de Blasio:
More than twenty years ago, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization sought to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Fifth Avenue and was excluded. In 1993, parade organizers used a court case to declare it a private, religious procession whose anti-gay message would be controverted by the presence of an identifiable Irish LGBTQ group — even though LGBTQ groups are welcome in St. Patrick’s Day parades all over Ireland.
From then on, City leaders supportive of LGBTQ rights and dignity have boycotted the parade. But the Police Commissioner and thousands of uniformed police, organized by their precincts, have marched every year in this explicitly anti-gay parade. Firefighters and other City personnel also march every year in their official capacity.
The organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade have established a constitutional right to their exclusionary religious procession, but the participation of police and firefighters is a clear violation of the City’s Human Rights Law, appended below.
The presence of uniformed police and firefighters in such a procession sends a clear signal to LGBTQ New Yorkers that these personnel, who are charged with serving and protecting all New Yorkers, do not respect the lives or safety of LGBT people. It confirms the practice of the NYPD and FDNY at times of targeting certain communities for discrimination. What’s more, it betrays the current work of high level government agencies and human rights advocates working internationally against the current wave of extreme anti-LGBTQ legislation and discriminatory practices occurring in countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, and Russia.
Indeed, legal precedent on this matter, in Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143 (2d Cir. 2002), says: “The effectiveness of a city’s police department depends importantly on the respect and trust of the community and on the perception in the community that it enforces the law fairly, even-handedly, and without bias. If the police department treats a segment of the population of any race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual preference, etc., with contempt, so that the particular minority comes to regard the police as oppressor rather than protector, respect for law enforcement is eroded and the ability of the police to do its work in that community is impaired.”
We are asking you to direct all City departments not to organize marchers for or allow personnel to participate in this anti-LGBTQ procession either in uniform or with any banner that identifies them with the City.
The 2014 St. Patrick’s Day parade is approaching. We ask that you act immediately on this matter. We would be pleased to meet for further discussion on a timeline that addresses this year’s march.
Sincerely,
[Signatures are listed as of 2/7/14. List in formation. Updates will be posted here and at http://irishqueers.blogspot.com/2014/02/deblasio-letter.html. To sign on, go to that page.]
Organizations
ACT UP/New York (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power)
African Services Committee – Amanda Lugg, Director of Advocacy
Brooklyn Community Pride Center – Erin Drinkwater, Executive Director
The Center for HIV Law and Policy – Catherine Hanssens, Executive Director
Gay City News
Gay USA TV program – Ann Northrop, Co-host
GRIOT Circle – Katherine Acey, Executive Director
The International Action Center – Teresa Gutierrez, Co-Director
Irish Queers – Gaby Cryan, Emmaia Gelman & John Francis Mulligan
Jay's House – Jay Toole, Executive Director and Founder
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice – Marjorie Dove Kent, Executive Director
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Campaign for Police Accountability – Marla Erlien, Claude Heffron, Maya Orli, Daniel Rosza Lang/Levitsky
Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club – Allen Roskoff, President
Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn – Michael Czaczkes, President
Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens (LGDCQ) – Michael Mallon, President
Lesbian Herstory Archives
Metropolitan Community Church of NY – Rev. Pat Bumgardner
National Lawyers Guild, NYC Chapter
New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth – Kate Barnhart, Director
New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) – Stephanie Hsu, Secretary
New York City Anti-Violence Project
North Star Fund – Hugh Hogan, Executive Director
Out-FM on WBAI-NY – John Riley and Naomi Brussell
Peoples Power Assembly – Imani Keith Henry, Organizer
Queens Pride House – Pauline Park, President & Acting Executive Director
QUEEROCRACY
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid-NYC – Brad Taylor
Stonewall Democrats of New York City – Melissa Sklarz, President
VOCAL-NY
WNYACT (Western New Yorkers Against Conversion Therapy)
City Officials and former City Officials
Hon. Letitia James, Public Advocate of the City of New York
Hon. Eric Adams, President, Borough of Brooklyn
Hon. Mark Green, former Public Advocate of the City of New York
Hon. Betsy Gotbaum, former Public Advocate of the City of New York
Hon. John Liu, former New York City Comptroller
Hon. Brad Hoylman, New York State Senator, 27th District, Manhattan
Hon. Corey Johnson, New York City Council, Manhattan
Hon. Mark Levine, New York City Council, Manhattan
Hon. Rosie Mendez, New York City Council, Manhattan
Hon. Helen Rosenthal, New York City Council, Manhattan
Hon. Ritchie Torres, New York City Council, Bronx
Hon. Ronnie Eldridge, former member, New York City Council
Hon. Herman “Denny” Farrell, New York State Assembly, Manhattan
Hon. Richard Gottfried, New York State Assembly, Manhattan
Hon. Keith Wright, New York State Assembly, Manhattan
Hon. Andy Humm, former New York City Human Rights Commissioner
Hon. Dr. Joyce Hunter, former New York City Human Rights Commissioner
Hon. James B. Levin, former New York City Human Rights Commissioner
Individuals (affiliations for identification purposes only)
Sammer Aboelela, Muslim community activist
Donna Aceto, activist, photographer and Gay City News freelancer
Curtis Arluck, Democratic District Leader, Morningside Heights
Nadia Awad
Mary C. Bakel, MSW, social activist
Sean Barry, Executive Director, VOCAL-NY
Mary E. Bartholomew, Esq., IPEC (Irish Parades Emergency Committee)
Hon. Marle Becker, NY County Democratic Committee
Jamie Bauer
Mark Black, veteran gay activist
Sandy Boyer, Irish community activist
Christopher Herman Brandt
Dwayne Brown, Executive Director, Jamaican Anti-homophobia Stand
Reginald T. Brown, M.Ed., Unity Fellowship of Christ Movement
Martha Burgess
Dennis Byrnes, Cranston, RI
Leslie Cagan, peace and justice organizer
Scott Caplan, Police Misconduct and Corruption Officer, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club
George Carter, Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research
Sheri Clemons
Debra Cooper, Democratic State Committeeperson, Upper West Side
Peter Cramer
Michael Cunningham
Kara Davis, Queer activist
Brother Mark D’Alessio, SSF
Ann D’Ercole, Ph.D., Psychologist
Bill Dobbs, gay civil libertarian
Chelsea Dreher
Jack Drescher, MD, Clinical Professor, New York Medical College
Lisa Duggan, Professor, Dept of Social & Cultural Analysis, NYU
Hazel Dukes
Andrew El-Kadi
Brendan Fay, St. Pat’s for All, Founder and Co-Chair
Louis Flores, blogger
Jennifer Flynn, Managing Director, Health GAP
Robert Gangi, PROP (Police Reform Organizing Project)
Carl George
Kt Good
Ryan Green
Brother Mark Gregory, Society of St. Francis
Lisa Guido
Yvonne M. Harrison, Restoration Temple Ministries
Anthony Heilbut, author
Jenny Heinz
Ronald E. Hellman, MD, Director, LGBT Affirmative Program, South Beach Psychiatric Center
Geoffrey Hendricks, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University and former President of the Board of Visual AIDS
Tony Hoffmann, President, Village Independent Democrats
Douglas Jennings
Bishop Zachary Jones, Unity Fellowship of Christ Church
Jay Kallio, veteran LGBT activist
Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, retired Professor of Jewish Studies and Comparative Literature, Queens College
Esther Kaplan
Ken Kidd, Queer Nation NY
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
SL Korn, Queer activist
Mark Landis, Democratic District Leader, 67th Assembly District, Part C
Rick Landman, veteran gay activist
Bob Lederer, member of WBAI Local Station Board; contributing producer, Out-FM on WBAI radio
Glen Leiner, veteran gay activist
Scott Long, human rights activist
Harris Lirtzman, veteran gay activist
Alan Timothy Lunceford, End AIDS Now
Revd. Dr. Bernárd J. Lynch, Chair of Camden London LGBTQ Forum, England
Ronald Madson and Richard Dietz, plaintiffs in suit that won domestic partner benefits for all City employees in Lesbian and Gay Teachers Association vs. The NYC Board of Education
Anne Maguire
Eli Mayer, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist
Malachy McCourt, Irish Pagan and author
David M. McDowell, MD (psychiatrist), Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Medical Center
David McReynolds, Socialist Workers Party
Mark Milano, ACT UP/NY
Patrick Moffitt
Megan Mulholland, Co-Director, QUEEROCRACY
Eileen Myles, poet
Kevin Noble, Irish community activist
Bernard O’Brien
Paul O’Dwyer
Edward Pass
Robert Pinter, Campaign to Stop the False Arrests
Jessica Rechtschaffer
Charles Rice-Gonzalez, author and co-founder of BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance
Nelson Santos, Executive Director, Visual AIDS
Elizabeth Savicz, teacher
Nathan M. Schaefer, Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda
Paul Schindler, editor-in-chief of Gay City News, and Bert Vaccari
Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities, City University of New York-College of Staten Island
Arthur Schwartz, Greenwich Village District Leader
Elaine Shulman, President, Ansonia Independent Democrats
Charles Silverstein, Ph.D., Former Director, Institute for Human Identity
Jo Anne Simon, NYS Democratic Committeewoman and District Leader, 52nd Assembly District, Brooklyn
Trish Spoto
Armanda Squadrilli
Jessica Stern, Director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
Colm Tóibín, author
Michael Tikili, co-founder and board member QUEEROCRACY
Urvashi Vaid
Andy Velez
Thomas S. Verni (Ret. Detective), NYPD Community Affairs, Citywide LGBT Community Liaison
Shep Wahnon, veteran gay activist
Dr. George Weinberg, psychotherapist, author of Society and the Healthy Homosexual (1972) identifying homophobia as social ill
Seth Weissman, Victory Fund Campaign Board Member
Robert West, President/Founder, Breaking Bread Under the Rainbow
Edmund White, writer
Sherry Wolf, associate editor, International Socialist Review
Maxine Wolfe, Professor Emerita, City University Graduate School and Coordinator Lesbian Herstory Archive
Ellen Zaltzberg, retired City worker
Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike, THAW, and under DADAnewyork
Legal (affiliations for identification purposes only)
Susan Abraham, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Beena Ahmad, Civil Rights Attorney
Bina Ahmad, Criminal Defense Attorney and National Vice President of the National Lawyers Guild
Afua Atta-Mensah, Attorney
Lee F. Bantle, Civil Rights Attorney
Melynda Barnhart, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School
Fran Bress, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Ellen P. Chapnick, Dean for Social Justice Initiatives, Columbia Law School
Elena L. Cohen, President, National Lawyers Guild-New York City Chapter
Kathleen Conkey, Attorney
Pamela Edwards, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Hillary Exter, public interest lawyer
J. Todd Fernandez, Human Rights Attorney
Joan P. Gibbs, Esq., Civil Rights Attorney
Mercer Givhan, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School
Julie Goldscheid, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Larry Grosberg, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Abdeen Jabara, former President, American Arab Antidiscrimination Committee
Ken Kimerling, Civil Rights Attorney
Alan Levine, Civil Rights Attorney
Arthur Leonard, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Richard A. Levy, Union and Civil Rights Attorney
Foster Maer, Civil Rights Attorney
Holly Maguigan, Professor of Law, NYU Law School
Carlin Meyer, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Benjamin Meyers, Attorney
James Meyerson, Civil Rights Attorney
Stephen A. Newman, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Gideon Oliver, Civil Rights Attorney
Edward Purcell, Distinguished Professor of Law, New York Law School
David Rankin, Civil Rights Attorney
Michael Ratner, President Emeritus, Center for Constitutional Rights
Andrea Ritchie, Civil Rights Attorney
Allie Robbins, CUNY School of Law
Franklin Siegel, Civil Rights Attorney
Jane Marcia Spinak, Clinical Professor of Law, Columbia law School
Michael Steven Smith, Esq., Member, Board of Directors, Center for Constitutional Rights
Martin R. Stolar, Civil Rights Attorney
Richard Storrow, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Peter Strauss, Distinguished Adjunct Professor, New York Law School
Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law, New York Law School and former President of the ACLU
Mark Taylor, Civil Rights Attorney
Susan Tipograph, Attorney
Bela August Walker, Associate Professor of Law, Roger Williams School of Law
Daniel Warshawsky, Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School
Rose M. Weber, Civil Rights Attorney
Melvin L. Wulf, former Legal Director, ACLU
Appendix
New York City Human Rights Law <nyc.gov/html/cchr/html/law/nyc-human-rights-ch1.shtml#1>
Title 8 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York
Chapter 1 – Commission on Human Rights:
§ 8-101 Policy. In the City of New York, with its great cosmopolitan population, there is no greater danger to the health, morals, safety, and welfare of the city and its inhabitants than the existence of groups prejudiced against one another and antagonistic to each other because of their actual or perceived differences, including those based on race, color, creed, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, partnership status, any lawful source of income, status as a victim of domestic violence or status as a victim of sex offenses or stalking, lawful occupation, whether children are, may be or would be residing with a person or conviction or arrest record. The council hereby finds and declares that prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, and discrimination and disorder occasioned thereby threaten the rights and proper privileges of its inhabitants and menace the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state. A city agency is hereby created with power to eliminate and prevent discrimination from playing any role in actions relating to employment, public accommodations and housing and other real estate, and to take other actions against prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, discrimination and bias-related violence or harassment as herein provided; and the commission established hereunder is hereby given general jurisdiction and power for such purposes.
