News

Quinn asks Obama to support gay rights

Quinn, who was famously arrested for marching as an open lesbian during the Fifth Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1999, was one of Obama’s honored guests for the presidential celebration. She is the city’s first openly gay, first female and first Irish city council speaker.

The Advocate reports:

“It was an interesting moment,” she said, “even though you’re so honored to be there, there’s still a part of you that, until we address the issue on Fifth Avenue, will always feel like wherever you are — even if you’re an honored guest — there’s still somewhere that you’re not invited to be.”

Quinn has boycotted New York’s parade for years because organizers refuse to let LGBT marchers display anything that indicates their sexuality or support for gay issues.

For that reason, she felt particularly moved to say something not only about the Obama administration’s diplomatic relations with Ireland but also about LGBT equality. So Quinn took her moment during a photo with the president to urge his support for two California court decisions stipulating that same-sex partners of federal court employees should be entitled to health benefits. Following the rulings, the federal Office of Personnel Management blocked the benefits, citing the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

“I asked the president to change the government’s policy and position as it related to the recent rulings,” she said. “He could immediately say, ‘I’m not going to challenge that ruling,’ and I think it would send a message about where he is headed and that he’s certainly not moving backwards. If he doesn’t stand by that ruling, it’s a tremendous setback.”

But Quinn didn’t lose sight of Ireland either and thanked President Obama for his support of the peace process in Northern Ireland, where a couple of politically motivated murders have taken place within the past 10 days. Guests at the White House St. Patrick’s Day celebration included British and Irish dignitaries, including Gerry Adams, the longtime leader of Sinn Féin. According to Quinn, who was invited to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day in 2007, they were all uniformly enthused by the Administration’s response to the recent violence.

“Everyone was very happy with President Obama, who has been incredibly strong and steadfast in support of the peace process in the North,” she said.

Quinn will speak at the Victory Fund’s annual Champagne Brunch on April 19 in Washington, D.C.  Reserve your ticket here.