ST. PAT’S FOR ALL PARADE CELEBRATES
IRISH HERITAGE AND LGBTQ+ PRIDE
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
The luck of the Irish was on
the side of St. Pat’s for All revelers
as the rain stopped just
in time for the parade to kick
off around 1 p.m. in Sunnyside
on March 6, 2022.
Last year, the parade,
which has been a beacon of inclusiveness
and a celebration
of Queens’ diversity since its
inception more than 20 years
ago, was held virtually due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, with many COVID
restrictions lifted, the secondlargest
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
in New York City showed
that the city, along with its energy,
is bouncing back.
If one needed proof, all
they had to do was look at
the many beaming “naked”
smiles, which masks had hidden
for two long years.
Queens native and Councilwoman
Tiffany Cabán was
excited to see the “beautiful
celebration of the intersection
of so many different identities.”
“I love it,” Cabán said. “As
a queer person myself, being
able to be in community and
see so many people who are
part of our community but
also neighbors, supporting,
being allies. This is great.”
She referred to the parade
as an act of resistance rooted
in love and the community
and that it stood in contrast to
the Staten Island St. Patrick’s
Day Parade, which once again
had excluded LGBTQ+ organizations
from participating.
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards pointed
out that Queens, one of the
hardest-hit boroughs during
the pandemic, represents 190
countries and that the parade
was a true testament to the
borough’s diversity and the
love Queens has for the LGBTQ+
community.
“Queens is back,” Richards
proudly declared. “It
feels good to be here, celebrating
our inclusiveness, unlike
some other boroughs.”
His message to the St.
Patrick’s Day organizers of
the “forgotten” borough was
clear.
“It’s 2022. Get with the program.
Stop with the divisiveness.
It is 2022,” Richards said.
“It was never right before
in any other year either, but
to not include the LGBTQ+
The brother of the late Tarlach Mac Niallais, Councilwoman Julie Won, NY AG Tish James and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney march in
the St. Pat’s for All Parade in Sunnyside on March 6, 2022. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
community in a parade is disgraceful.
And they need to get
with the program. This is New
York City.”
Assemblywoman Jessica
González-Rojas recalled that
the last time they marched
was in 2020, shortly before
the COVID-19 pandemic broke
out, and she was “thrilled”
that the event was back. She
also emphasized that there
was no place for hate in New
York City and pointed out the
historical aspect of the St.
Pat’s for All Parade.
“I’m proud to be part of
Queens, that we created the
first-ever inclusive St. Pat’s
for All parade,” González-Rojas
said. “And as things have
changed gradually, it’s a sign
of the times, but this is really
unfortunate that they are still
excluding the LGBT community.”
Councilman Keith Powers,
who is Irish American
and heads the Irish Caucus in
the City Council, said that St.
Pat’s for All was symbolic for
its inclusiveness.
“One, this community
was a large Irish community
where my family lived when
they came here to New York
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.18 COM | MARCH 11 - MARCH 17, 2022
City, so it’s good to be here in
a place that has a long Irish
tradition,” Powers said. “And
also, this parade has been
symbolic for its inclusivity
throughout its time here and
really at a moment where we
need it to embrace and show
every New Yorker they can be
part of our community. This
parade served as that sign.”
He said he was still speechless
that a St. Patrick’s Day
Parade in New York City
didn’t embrace all New Yorkers,
especially since the Irish
American community has a
strong and vibrant LGBTQ+
population.
“It is disappointing to see
that the Staten Island parade
still wants to shut out New
Yorkers and deny them that
they are part of the Irish
American community. It’s ridiculous,”
Powers said.
Before the parade went underway,
speakers paid tribute
to the late LGBTQ+ activist
Tarlach Mac Niallais, who
died of COVID-19 on April 1,
2020, at 57.
Mac Niallais emigrated
to New York City from Ireland
the 1980s. The LGBTQ+
and disability rights activist
campaigned tirelessly to allow
LGBTQ+ organizations to
march under their own banners
in the New York City St.
Patrick’s Day Parade.
His two brothers recalled
that he became politically
active while growing up in
Belfast and described him as
warm and intelligent.
“His legacy will live on
as long as we do,” one of his
brothers declared.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer
remembered that he was
at the parade in 2020, the last
time Tarlach Mac Niallais
marched in the parade.
“It was an amazing day,”
Schumer said. “And we do
remember those who were
lost in COVID. Far too many,
many more who are mourning
those who are lost. Every one
of us can fit into that category,
unfortunately.”
Schumer also called on the
crowd to think of and pray for
the “brave Ukrainian people
who are fighting the good
fight.”
He said he had spoken to
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy,
who told him he needed
airplanes.
“I am putting pressure on
our administration and working
with our administration
to get them the planes they
need,” Schumer said. “Because
they cannot allow the
massacre of their people to
continue.”
Along the parade route,
which stretched from 43rd
Street and Skillman Avenue
to 58th Street and Woodside
Avenue, many paradegoers
— decked out in emerald
green, waving Irish and LGBT
flags — cheered on the many
marching bands, Irish groups
and LGBTQ+ organizations
like the Lavender and Green
Alliance.
Jay Walker, a co-founder
of Gays Against Guns, was
excited to participate in St.
Pat’s for All and glad that the
weather had held up.
“I expect to see just tons of
queer people and our allies.
And just fabulous New Yorkers
being together,” Walker
said. When asked about the
fact that Staten Island’s St.
Patrick’s Day parade once
again nixed the participation
of LGBTQ+ organizations, he
laughed and said, “It’s Staten
Island. It’s exactly what I’d expect
from Staten Island.”