New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade made history on Tuesday.
For the first time in its 254-year celebration of all things Irish, an LGBT group is among the marchers, marching behind a banner identifying themselves as the OUT@NBCUniversal group.
The group making history is an alliance of LGBT employees of NBC Universal -- a corporate sponsor of the parade.
Organizers of the parade have come under fire for years for preventing LGBT groups from marching with banners identifying their sexuality during the parade.
The policy shift was celebrated by some, but not everyone is happy at the limited inclusion of LGBT groups, and the selection of a corporate group as the first to have the honor of marching in the parade.
I've got my green ready to make history with @OUTNBCUniversal in the St Patrick's Day Parade! #prideNBCU pic.twitter.com/tOia9ihuPB— Jayzen Patria (@JayzenPatria) March 17, 2015
At least one New York based group, Irish Queers, is planning to protest. The group is not pleased at the selection of the corporate group and said in the statement that the inclusion is actually an exclusion for the wider community.
"The demand has always been for Irish LGBTQ groups to march under banners that say who we are without shame -- not corporate groups, marching behind an “OUT” banner that avoids mentioning 'lesbian,' 'gay,' 'bisexual' or 'transgender,'” said the statement.
Irish LGBT voices all say @OUTNBCUniversal is hurting us - now NBC claims 2 stand on our shoulders. Necks, more like! http://t.co/ppOX0ETOnK— Irish Queers (@IrishQueers) March 16, 2015
Last year, sponsors Heineken and Guinness both pulled out of the parade, but returned this year after the inclusion of an LGBT group. But members if Irish Queers have slammed both sponsors for their return, calling the St. Patrick's Day parade in Manhattan "antigay."
“Guinness and Heineken, after dropping their sponsorship of the antigay parade for just one year, have used NBC’s trick as an excuse to resume sponsoring it. It’s totally perverse that Heineken has offered to put money into the inclusive Queens parade as well as the antigay parade. Playing both sides harms the LGBTQ community, and adds insult to injury,” said Eustacia Smith of Irish Queers.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with the City Council, will be boycotting the parade for the second consecutive year.
Marching in today's #StPatricksDay #parade in the big with #OUT@NBCUniversal supporting my #LGBT peeps #change is coming y'all xoxoxo— Irene Vasquez (@Caritadelbx) March 17, 2015
The move by the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade is not the first American celebration of the quintessentially Irish holiday to make a move towards inclusion. On Sunday, two different groups, Boston Pride and OutVets, marched in the city's South Boston Paddy's Day parade holding a rainbow colored banners and waving Irish flags.
Sarah Jo Gomez-Lorraine, a Navy officer and OutVets member taking part in the march, said it's an honor to represent gay veterans who never got the opportunity to come out.
"I feel today that I stand on the shoulders of giants who've gone before me and never got to see this in their lives," she said. "It's very humbling to be able to stand in places that others never got to."
Additional information from the Associated Press.