Quinn to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an out lesbian, will march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland this March 17, an event that welcomes gay and lesbian contingents unlike her hometown parade that has excluded them since the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization first applied in 1991. “I hope that my participation in the Dublin parade will send a message about the importance of inclusion,” she said. Last year she tried to work out a compromise with the Ancient Order of Hibernians over the Fifth Avenue march, but she was rebuffed by its leader who said including gay people on St. Patrick's Day would be like including Nazis in the Israeli Day parade.