NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee will allow LGBTQ+ groups to march in the borough’s annual Irish heritage celebration, the first time this inclusion will be made, 1010 WINS has confirmed.
Until this announcement, the Richmond County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee continued to exclude LGBTQ+ organizations on the basis of Catholic teachings. The controversial ban outlasted a similar stipulation in Manhattan’s New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which was lifted in 2014, and remained one of the very last celebrations of its kind worldwide to maintain the exclusion.
But on March 2, 2025, members of the organization are invited to proudly march alongside the dozens of other community organizations that are participating in the parade, thanks to new parade committee leadership, whom were installed on Oct. 30, 2024.
“The Richmond County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee wishes to announce that the Staten Island Pride Center has been invited to march, under their own banner, in the 2025 Saint Patrick’s Day Parade," the committee said in a statement.
“The parade committee is entrusted with ensuring the focus of the parade remains upon Saint Patrick, the history, traditions, culture and faith of the Irish people,” the statement continued. “In this endeavor, the leadership of The Pride Center has assured the parade committee that they are ready to provide support to the parade in fulfilling this obligation.”
Community members over the years have protested in defiance of the LGBTQ+ exclusion and the celebration’s numbers have dwindled, with many community groups and politicians—including Mayor Eric Adams—boycotting the event over the ban.
In 2023, the organizers of the annual Jerome X O’Donovan Parade Breakfast—which for 25 years gathered elected officials before the event—cancelled the meal over the committee’s longstanding refusal to include LGBTQ+ Staten Islanders. This year, the borough’s Business Outreach Center received a permit to hold a second, inclusive parade and invited the Pride Center of Staten Island to participate.
But there’s no need for protesting at the 2025 parade, which will bring the pride center into the fold of the traditional celebration.
“We are truly honored to be invited to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” pride center executive director Caroline Bullock said in a statement. “This event is a time-honored tradition that brings people together from all walks of life to celebrate Irish culture, and we are excited to be part of this vibrant community celebration.”
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Adams celebrated the committee's decision, highlighting his ongoing support for LGBTQ+ inclusion. He pointed to his administration's involvement in the inclusive 2024 parade, and his previous participation in initiatives like the 2023 Rainbow Run on Staten Island, ran in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
“From day one, our administration has been clear that celebrations in our city should be welcoming and inclusive,” Adams said. “We are thrilled that, this year, Staten Island’s LGBTQ+ community will finally be welcome to march under their own banner in the Richmond County St. Patrick’s Day Parade and we applaud the committee for coming to this decision, which was a long-time coming. Congratulations to the Staten Island community, including the Pride Center of Staten Island and the Lavender and Green Alliance, for their long advocacy for inclusion.”