Happy St. Patrick's Day

 

Feeling lucky in my late namesake uncle's windbreaker, size XS, a decade ago! #throwbacktuesday

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

May the luck of the Irish be with you all day long -- or better yet this guy. ☘️

Andy Humm shared these wise words:

St. Patrick and his followers on the subway today in New York. Hope he is here to drive the snakes out of the United States!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I'm certainly not the first one to say this, but anyone else bemused by the fact that millennials never shut up about Netflixing and chilling and how they don't like interacting with human beings under any circumstances -- until there's a fucking deadly pandemic and they're asked to stay home?

See the cutest pets dressing up for the occasion HERE.

Speedo Sunday

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! More luck of the Irish HERE.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Irish schmear campaign going on at Murray's Bagels.

How many of us turned gay -- or Irish -- watching this?!

St. Patrick's Gay Parade

Photo seen HERE.

Didn't make it to New York City's first-ever LGBT-inclusive St. Patrick's Day Parade yesterday, but was tickled pink -- and green with envy -- seeing this photo of Brendan Fay, Edie Windsor and Christine Quinn leading the Lavender and Green Alliance contingency, which has fought for this day for-ever. A Bernie queen friend of mine recently wrote that he feared "eight more years of Obama" if Hillary is elected, to which I replied: "God, I sure hope so!" After praising Obama for getting us out of the financial crisis, I went on to say these past seven-plus years have politically been the best of my life because of Obama's leadership -- and Supreme Court nominations -- that saw the government finally recognize me (and all LGBT people) as a full human being for the first time. My friend -- like all Bernie queens -- immediately pushed back with a vengeance, saying: 

"Gay marriage has nothing to due [sic] with you being recognized as a human being. Don't forget the SCOTUS is made up of 9 judges and 4 of them were against it, not to mention the almost 40% of the country that doesn't agree with gay marriage. Gays in the military have been there all along and about 30% of the nation is against us serving openly. Neither one of these things has actually given us civil liberties." 

Needless to say, I didn't need someone to tell me about how divided the Supreme Court is -- or the nation, for that matter. But I couldn't disagree with my friend more about what gay marriage and open military service mean as far as the human experience for LGBT people. 

Watch HERE.

You only need to see the emotion in Brendan Fay's eyes as he explained what being a part of yesterday's parade meant to him to know that Obama's push for our inclusion may just be his greatest legacy of all. It's not just Obama -- and Mrs. Clinton -- working to fix laws against us. It's their including us in the State of the Union or at State Department events. It's their recognizing us as everyday people, inviting LGBT families to the White House for the Easter egg hunt or Christmas tree lighting. Trickle-down economics have been proven time and time again to not work. But trickle-down societal acceptance does. And if my friend still doesn't think the right to marry, the right to serve openly and everything else that has come with those things is our having "civil liberties," perhaps he doesn't know what "civil liberties" are. 

A banner day in NYC!

Guinness Book of World Records

To his credit, he made it till noon ... although this wasn't nearly as exciting as last year's abusive-relationship-in-training fest.

NYC's Gay Ban on St. Patrick's Day Parade Lifted

Exciting news. Mayor Bill de Blasio is ending his two-year boycott of the nation’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade after organizers finally agreed to fully drop a longstanding ban on gay and lesbian groups’ marching under their own banners. (I might even go!) Read HERE.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As per tradition, I skipped the St. Patrick's Day parade and got to revel in the sloppiness that followed. This time a pack of bridge-and-tunnel kids were in the Wendy's in my office building's underground trying to use the bathroom. The beleaguered manager stood guard at the door trying to make sure only people who'd bought things went in -- like drunk Irish kids wouldn't buy something -- but the best part was the obligatory breakup going on between a wasted girl named Quinn and her adorable abusive boyfriend:

"I just wanna go home."

"Quinn. Quinn. Quinn."

"Take me home."

"Quinn. Quinn."

"I just wanna go home."

"Quinn. Can you talk to me for a second?"

"[Inaudible]."

"Quinn. I can't just take you home. It's not like I can magically transport you. Talk to me."

"[Moaning]."

"Are you saying you're through with me?"

"I just wanna go home."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I've just got this temper because I love you so much."

"I just wanna go home."

Meanwhile, one of the micks was belittling the Wendy's manager for "not having anything better to do" than guard the bathroom.

"That's really sad, dude. That's really pathetic," he declared as he dropped an extra-large Dunkin' Donuts cup on the floor and beer flooded the lobby.

By the way ...

New York's famed parade featured its first-ever gay-identified group today. But there was only one, and that it was a float of employees from NBC Universal -- which broadcasts the event -- didn't sit well with many. Read HERE.

Fairytale of New York

Michael and I rarely drink, but it was St. Patrick's Day Eve -- wait: now that makes me sound like drinker! -- when we walked past Julus' Bar & Grill on Sunday afternoon and noticed it looked festive but not overly crowded. So in an attempt to be fun, we popped in for a beer. The Djokovic-Federer final happened to be on television -- score! -- and then we met a bunch of great guys, including this 84-year-old vixen named Michael, who said he's been hanging out there forever. His partner died a dozen years ago, but he still makes a point of going on to be social, which he is VERY good at! (There was a line for a photo-op!) Later Michael and I were sitting near the window when a Facebook friend of mine whom I've met a couple of times too walked by and saw me, so came running in. He was all teeth as he pulled a copy of my book out of his shopping bags, which he had just picked up at Three Lives & Co. across the way. It was a dream New York moment come true -- and one I will never forget.

A Greener Rainbow?

I've lived through nearly 20 St. Patrick's Day parades here in New York City and watched as the LGBT community expressed outrage at being denied a place in it. To be honest, I just assumed it would always be this way. Sure, it angered me, but then March 18 rolled around and I pretty much forgot about it. What a joy to see that we truly have reached a critical mass on this homophobic bullshit -- even in the way of ethnic celebrations. With the mayors of New York City and Boston boycotting, plus Guinness pulling out as a corporate sponsor, I predict this will be an all-inclusive celebration come 2015 -- and if it is, I will be marching in my first-ever parade!