Queens Courier: Dromm Marches in St. Pat's For All Parade

From Queens Courier:
One day a year, on St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish and non-Irish alike wear green, sing jigs and show off their buttons that say “Kiss Me I’m Irish.”

Everybody can be Irish on that day unless, according to the organizers of the Fifth Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Parade, you are a gay or lesbian. Ten years ago this weekend, the all-inclusive St. Pat’s For All Parade and Festival in Sunnyside was born and organizers believe that the theme of inclusiveness has been the reason for the parade’s success.

Latinos, Choctaw Native Americans, Tibetans, school bands, girl scouts, bag pipers, puppeteers, gays and lesbians, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, will march alongside Irish men and women on Sunday, March 1 beginning at 1:30 p.m. on 43rd Street and Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside and ending at 61st Street and Woodside. Other political leaders marching will include Representative Joseph Crowley, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Councilmembers David Weprin and Tony Avella, and District Leader Danny Dromm.

“What we were doing was trying to find an alternative to the Hibernian parade in Manhattan,” said Dromm, a co-founder of the parade and a proud gay Irish Catholic. “What better place to have an inclusive St. Patrick’s Day Parade than in Queens, the borough of nations.”

photo credit: flickr/afulki