Belfast Gay Pride March Removed From Calendar

BELFAST, IELAND - Belfast’s Gay Pride Mardi Gras-style procession could be scrubbed from a council calendar which advertises festivals taking place in the city during 2006.
At a meeting of the council’s arts committee yesterday, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) attempted to have mention of it removed from thousands of booklets due to be put through ratepayers’ doors.
The proposal was defeated, however Daily Ireland understands DUP councillors are going to revisit the issue at the next full monthly meeting of the council in March.
The Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association’s PA MagLochlainn said it was a shame that the DUP is again opposing the pride festival. However, he thanked the party for the free publicity its opposition generates and promised the festival will be as colourful as ever.
Mr MagLochlainn said: “The DUP’s position is utterly counterproductive. The more they do to oppose us the more it helps us.
“The fact is that the gay pride festival is probably the most enjoyable and colourful in this city. It is extremely popular among tourists, and the brochures advertising it fly off the shelves in Belfast’s tourist centre. It adds significantly to the wealth of the city and is now firmly established as a highlight in the festival calendar.”
DUP councillor Nelson McCausland, who sits on the committee, refused to comment on the matter. He said he would issue a statement in due course.
Sinn Féin’s Paul Maskey, who opposed DUP plans to remove the festival from the council booklet, condemned the proposal.
He said: “The gay pride festival has as much a right to feature on this booklet as any other. It is supported by the majority of people in Belfast and is looked forward to by thousands.”
The 2006 Belfast gay pride festival will take place on the last weekend in July. Throughout its short history it has been picketed by Christian fundamentalists.
Last year, festival organisers were forced to apply to the Parades Commission before being allowed to stage a procession through the city centre.
The application was made after a religious organisation called the Stop the Parade Coalition lodged a formal objection with the commission.
The pride festival regularly receives council funding despite DUP opposition.
from Daily Ireland