IRISH LESBIAN AND GAY ORGANIZATION
'We will march at St. Pat's Parade'
By Leslie Feinberg
New York
In order to hold a march in the streets of New York, a
police permit is required. But the NYPD has frequently and
illegally refused to grant permits for progressive
demonstrations.
The Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization has been caught in
that Catch-22 for five years. But it hasn't stopped ILGO and
its supporters from protesting the city's attempts to bar a
lesbian and gay contingent in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
And they'll be out and proudly picketing again this year on
March 17.
A Feb. 17 ILGO press release pointed out that in 1998 a
federal court ruled New York City's parade permit system
unconstitutional.
"This violation of our basic civil liberties reflects what
has become a standard policy of the city administration to
silence dissenting voices. Any New Yorker who speaks out
against the city's repressive tactics is subject to
harassment," ILGO stressed.
ILGO, the release explained, has been subject to this NYPD
harassment in recent years. In addition to blocking parade
permits for the group, ILGO charged that the NYPD "acts as a
private security force for the parade organizers, illegally
intimidating and threatening to arrest legal sidewalk
protesters and supporters of ILGO along the parade route."
Undaunted, ILGO has announced it is suing the Giuliani
administration "for damages and injunctive relief resulting
from the city's violation of our rights."
And, the group vows, "ILGO will again be a visible presence
on Fifth Avenue this year on St. Patrick's Day."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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