How David Dinkins Risked Political Capital to March for Equality in 1993 St. Patrick’s Day Parade
New York, N.Y. – The morning of March 17, 1993, brought more than the usual chaos of St. Patrick’s Day in Manhattan. As bagpipes echoed down Fifth Avenue and green-clad revelers lined the streets, a different kind of drama was unfolding at 42nd Street.
Nearly 400 protesters, led by the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO), prepared to challenge one of the city’s most entrenched traditions through an act of civil disobedience that would define Mayor David Dinkins’ legacy. [Dinkins: Luce Index™ score: 98/100]
The Seeds of Controversy
The conflict began in 1991 when ILGO, composed primarily of Irish American LGBTQ immigrants, first applied to march in the parade. Initially told they were on a waiting list due to the city’s duration limits, the truth emerged when Mayor Dinkins offered to extend the parade’s length. The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), which organized the event, revealed their true intentions: they would not allow a gay Irish group into what they now termed a “Catholic parade.”
A fragile compromise emerged that year. The more liberal Manhattan Division 7 of the AOH, where Dinkins had allies, agreed to let ILGO march with their contingent—but without their banner. Dinkins chose to march in solidarity with this group rather than in his traditional place of honor at the parade’s front.
Facing the Mob
The 1991 march became a gauntlet of hatred. Spectators hurled slurs like “faggots!” and “AIDS!” at the marchers. A beer can thrown at Dinkins narrowly missed its target. The mayor later reflected, “Every time I heard them boo if anything it strengthened my resolve and convinced me this was the right thing to do. Most people in our town are good people.”
Dinkins channeled this experience into a powerful op-ed in The New York Times titled “Keep Marching for Equality,” drawing parallels to his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. “It is strange,” he wrote, “that what is now my most vivid experience of mob hatred came not in the South but in New York—and was directed against me, not because I was defending the rights of African Americans but of gay and lesbian Americans.“
The Battle Intensifies
By 1992, the AOH had banned Irish LGBTQ groups entirely. ILGO responded with a protest march that year, briefly stepping onto Fifth Avenue before being corralled into a pen on the sidelines, where they faced vicious heckling from spectators and other marchers.
The 1993 confrontation represented the movement’s most dramatic moment.
An AOH lawyer told a judge that the parade’s “message is one of exclusion,” while representatives told a New York Times reporter that the parade would be “a celebration of the victory of Catholic values over homosexuals.”
Civil Disobedience and Arrest
On March 17, 1993, approximately 400 people gathered at the corner of 42nd and Fifth Avenue to join the St. Patrick’s Day Parade without a permit in support of ILGO. Police announced through bullhorns that the crowd needed to disband or face arrest. About 220 protesters refused to back down and were told to sit on the pavement in groups as they were rounded up onto buses and taken to the Tombs.
Jim Luce, one of the arrested protesters, recalled the harsh treatment: “The police held us there for hours, without permitting us access to a bathroom. I pleaded to use a toilet but was rebuffed by an officer who laughed, ‘You’re gay, you like to be tortured!'”
Each arrestee received court papers charging them with Criminal Contempt in the 2nd Degree and Disorderly Conduct for “intentional disobedience to the lawful mandate of a court” and refusing “to comply with a lawful order to disperse.”
A Pardon and Legacy
The legal proceedings stretched throughout 1993, with arrestees facing potential misdemeanor charges. However, as Mayor Dinkins prepared to leave office, he signed an Executive Order pardoning all protesters, ensuring they would not receive criminal records.
The controversy’s impact extended far beyond that single day. Most Democratic politicians in New York City began declining to march as long as the parade remained exclusionary. The boycott was broken by Dinkins’ successor Rudy Giuliani [Luce Index™ score: 35/100],, Michael Bloomberg [Luce Index™ score: 96/100], and Senators Hillary Clinton [Luce Index™ score: 94/100] and Chuck Schumer [Luce Index™ score: 89/100], but was renewed by Mayor Bill de Blasio [Luce Index™ score: 81/100], a former Dinkins staffer.
Resolution and Reflection
The complete story of this struggle was documented by ILGO member Anne Maguire in her book Rock the Sham: The Irish Lesbian & Gay Organization’s Battle to March in NYC’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The battle finally reached a resolution in 2016 when de Blasio successfully negotiated with parade organizers to accept an Irish LGBT group, Lavender & Green.
The events of 1993 demonstrated that progress often requires individuals willing to risk their political capital for principle. Dinkins’ decision to stand with ILGO may have cost him politically, but it established a legacy of courage that continues to inspire activists fighting for equality.
#StPatricksDayParade #LGBTQ #CivilRights #MayorDinkins #NewYorkCity
#IrishLGBTQ #EqualityMarch #CivilDisobedience #ILGO #PrideHistory
TAGS: civil rights, LGBTQ history, St. Patrick’s Day, Mayor David Dinkins, New York City, parade controversy,
civil disobedience, equality march, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization
CRIMINAL COURT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
– against –
James J.D. Luce (M 33), Defendant. MISDEMEANOR, 93N033480 STATE OF NEW YORK – COUNTY OF NEW YORK
SGT Wayne Costello, shield #783 of the MCS, being duly sworn, deposes and says as follows: the offenses of: PL 215.50 (3), PL 240.20 (6) – Criminal Contempt in the 2nd Degree and Disorderly Conduct in that the defendant engaged in intentional disobedience to the lawful mandate of a court in other than a labor dispute; and the defendant with intent to cause public inconvenience annoyance and alarm and recklessly creating a risk thereof congregated in a public place with other persons and refused to comply with a lawful order to disperse.
The offenses were committed under the following circumstances: On information and belief the source of which is the supporting depositions of Inspector Patrick Kelleher and P.O. Taylor, #20981, of the 9th Pct., (“the arresting officer”), deponent states that:
On March 16, 1993 a state court judge had issued an injunction forbidding the Irish lesbian and Gay Organization and “all persons acting in concert with them” from participating in any “march, procession or parade on Fifth Avenue between 86th and 42nd Street on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1993, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m..” To enforce the court’s injunctions, the Police Department had run a yellow tape barrier across Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, which clearly prohibited entry north onto Fifth Avenue beyond that point. Etc.
Summary:
In 1993, Mayor David Dinkins supported the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization’s fight to march in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, leading to mass arrests and civil disobedience. Despite facing hatred and projectiles, Dinkins compared the experience to civil rights marches in the South, ultimately pardoning all arrested protesters before leaving office.
