mayor bill de blasio attended a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friendly st patrick's day parade on sunday, and told participants that a society for all is one that embraces and respects everyone the st pat's for all parade stepped off in queens under a heavy snowfall it was held as an alternative to the city's centuries old st patrick's day parade in manhattan, which for years has excluded gay groups and this year is scheduled for march 17 de blasio, a democrat, refused to march in last year's manhattan parade because it wasn't fully inclusive, and guinness beer dropped its sponsorship organizers said last year, though, that they would welcome one gay contingent under its own banner this year on sunday, de blasio said he is 'not ready to commit to marching' in this year's manhattan event parade: new york mayor bill de blasio, center, waves the flag of ireland as he marches beside kerry kennedy, third from left, during the all inclusive st pat's for all parade in sunnyside, queens on sunday  celebration: marchers carry a banner reading 'st pat's for all' on sunday in the snowy weather  capital new york reported that nbc universal employees are planning to march with a banner for out@nbcuniversal the group's twitter page describes itself as 'the employee resource group of lgbt & straight ally employees at nbcuniversal' de blasio arrived about 15 minutes late to the st pats for all parade, sporting a lavender shirt and green tie despite the snow and cold he said, 'it's a sunny day in my world' 'you are a hardy troupe,' he told people gathered for the parade 'you are here to celebrate no matter what that is what pride is all about   pride in the fact that in new york city you can be whoever you are' the mayor said on sunday: 'a society for everyone is a society where everyone is respected, where everyone is embraced, where everyone has a say at the table' in the past, gays were free to march in the world's biggest and oldest st patrick's day parade but not with banners saying they're lgbt most marching units in the parade carry identifying banners there are about 320 units in this year's parade, the parade committee said the new york daily news quoted the mayor as saying of the march 17 event 'i'm not ready to commit to marching, because all we've heard is that one delegation related to nbc will be allowed to have members of the lgbt community in it' gathering: de blasio looks on during the snowstorm at the st pat's for all parade the parade, which embraces diversity, is considered an alternative to new york city's official st patrick's day parade  per capital new york, de blasio said 'having only one delegation associated with one company that allows members of the lgbt community is obviously a pretty narrow concession, and i think we'd like to see something that's more inclusive 'here is an example of a parade that's inclusive of all   it celebrates irish heritage in a way that everyone can be a part of i hope for some more progress with the parade in manhattan, but there is still time, and we look forward to some additional discussion and i certainly welcome any discussions with anybody who wants to make it more inclusive' 'even though it is a statement of some progress that this nbc delegation has been included, and i certainly commend that, we need something more for it to really feel like we've turned a corner here,' de blasio reportedly said, per capital lgbt activists say the main parade organizer, the ancient order of hibernians, has been under increasing pressure to allow diversity, especially after new york state passed its marriage equality act in 2011, allowing marriages for same sex couples the two grand marshals at the 15th annual st pat's for all parade were longtime human rights activist kerry kennedy and tony award winning actor brian o'byrne patti lowenhaupt, a retired art teacher and queens resident who showed up for the parade, said people 'are all human beings underneath it all' 'we here in queens have the ability to accept all kinds of people,' lowenhaupt said several protesters, however, stood on the side holding signs that read 'sodom & gomorrah' other elected officials participating in the st pat's for all parade included city council speaker melissa mark viverito and city comptroller scott stringer onlookers: people snuggle up as they wait for marchers to pass by  pride: members of the gay officers action league march carrying a banner 
new york city bill de blasio the st pat's sunnyside queens st patrick's day parade manhattan the st patrick's de blasio democrat
new york city mayor bill de blasio attended the st pat's for all parade in sunnyside, queens on sunday . it was held as an alternative to the city's centuries old st patrick's day parade in manhattan . the st patrick's day parade has for years excluded gay groups and this year is scheduled for march 17 . de blasio, a democrat, refused to march in last year's manhattan parade because it wasn't fully inclusive . on sunday, de blasio said he is 'not ready to commit to marching' in this year's manhattan event 