From the Family Research Council
March 17, 2006A Parade of Blarney
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn won't be marching in the Big Apple's St. Patrick's Day Parade today. Quinn, who is homosexual, is protesting the fact that the parade's organizers, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, will not allow homosexuals to carry their own banners. The parade is America's oldest, going back to 1762. Boston organizers had to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995 to defend their right to march as Irish--and to keep homosexual activists from hijacking their parade. That case produced a 9-0 ruling in favor of the Boston parade organizers and their legendary leader John "Wacko" Hurley. Homosexuals claimed a First Amendment right to celebrate their lifestyle in the middle of someone else's parade. Even the very liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and John Paul Stevens could not swallow that blarney. But Speaker Quinn is not deterred: "I can't deny who I am on any given day," she said. No one is asking her to. The Hibernians are simply saying that their parade celebrates their Irish heritage, not her homosexuality. Meanwhile, look at Florida, and the annual Reclaiming America conference in Fort Lauderdale sponsored by Dr. D. James Kennedy and Coral Ridge Ministries. Alan Chambers of Exodus, the ex-gay ministry, is slated to speak. Matt Foreman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force says "giving a speaking opportunity to anyone from the ex-gay movement is wrong. It needs to be repudiated at every step, not given a pulpit." That's the homosexual "free-speech" agenda on parade: When the Irish march, they must allow gays to advertise. When Christians meet, they must exclude ex-gays.
