Again, LGBTQ Groups Rejected From SI St. Pat’s
Staten Island’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade organizers turn away queer applicants
BY MATT TRACY
As expected, LGBTQ organizations
were turned
away when they tried
registering for Staten
Island’s upcoming St. Patrick’s
Day Parade, marking yet another
year of rejection for queer groups
seeking to participate in the annual
event.
Staten Island Pride Center executive
director Carol Bullock,
accompanied by the Gay Offi cers
Action League (GOAL) and the LGBTQ
fi refi ghter and EMS organization
known as FireFlag, entered
the Holy Family Roman Catholic
Church on February 20 to submit
registration forms for Staten
Island’s March 6 St. Patrick’s Day
Parade. The groups have sought to
be included in the parade for years,
but they’ve always been rejected.
This time was no different — and
Staten Island Pride Center executive director Carol Bullock and Pride Center board member Alex Carr
(second from left) engage with parade organizer Larry Cummings.
parade organizer Larry Cummings
showed hostility from the moment
queer groups showed up. He tried
pressuring them to leave, but they
stayed put. A group of supporters
stood by outside in silent protest.
“I handed Cummings the application
and he said, ‘I don’t want
DONNA ACETO
that,’” Bullock said. “The minute we
walked in, I could see his body language.
My board member Alex Carr
walked over to introduce himself,
tried to shake Larry’s hand, and
Larry said, ‘I’m not shaking your
hand.’”
Carr — a lifelong Staten Island
ST. PATRICK’S DAY
resident whose grandmother owned
a bar in the borough — tried to sit
down and have a conversation with
Cummings, but had no luck.
This marks the fourth time Bullock
has been rejected since taking
over leadership of the Staten Island
Pride Center. She said she has tried
inviting Cummings to the Pride
Center multiple times and told him
yet again that the offer still stands.
“He’s never taken me up on it,”
Bullock said.
“At one point, I said, ‘I don’t understand,’”
Bullock added. “We are
allowed to march in Boston, in
Dublin, in New York City — why
not Staten Island? What makes
Staten Island so different? He just
stared at me.”
Last year’s march was nixed altogether
amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Like two years ago, Bullock
expects “more Rainbow Flags than
Irish fl ags.”
Protect yourself, New York.
Get vaccinated.
Stay up to date with a booster.
Wear your mask.
NYC VACCINE FOR ALL:
SAFE, FREE, EASY
To learn more, visit
or call 877-VAX-4NYC.
Eric Adams
Mayor
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc
Commissioner
GayCityNews.com | February 24 - March 9, 2022 7
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