HOLYOKE — For the first time since it was founded in 2006 Holyoke High School’s Gay Straight Alliance group was invited to participate in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“We are so excited to be here,” said the group’s president Auriana Rojas, a senior at the school.
She was joined by sophomores Keishantelle Burgos, and Michael Colon, as well as the group’s adviser Marisol Rivera.
The group was concerned about reaction from the crowd, with stories out of Boston where the group MassEquality was not allowed to participate in the parade city’s annual parade, but as they made their way down Northampton Street the crowd cheered and clapped for the group.
“We are so grateful to be a part of this today and to celebrate with the city of Holyoke,” Rivera said.
The group was founded by Holyoke’s mayor Alex Morse.
Morse invited MassEquality to participate in Holyoke’s parade, but the group was not able to attend.
Gay and Straight and Irish Together: Holyoke’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade Puts Southie’s to Shame
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HeartlandDem says
Big Cheers for Holyoke – whose colors are purple and white mixed with green on St. Pat’s makes for a field of heather, throw in some orange from the flag of Eire; red, white and blue from our flag and it’s a rainbow coalition!
And this today, honoring the Hoyts.
Let it be known that Holyoke’s pride is strong and the city is galvanizing under the progressive leadership of Mayor Morse for improved economic and community outcomes. There is resistance to change but that is actually fueling those who quest for a brighter today, tomorrow and the days ahead.
jconway says
And the Irish kept marching. This is what every parade should look like. Kudos to the Holyoke parade and municipal leadership for allowing this since 2006 and particularly the leadership of their Mayor Alex Morse (another guy close to my age on the march!).
HeartlandDem says
The LGBT High School group was established in 2006 by Alex Morse when he was a student at Holyoke High School. He invited the group to march this year. He also reached out to Mass Equality but as Mark stated above they were not able to participate….maybe next year!
rcmauro says
All of you that fought for equal marriage rights will love the last profile in the slide show for this story on Match Day at UMass. Click on the other slides too for a picture of where a diverse America’s going, not where it’s been. Congratulations to all these new doctors (and to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth–we helped them get there)!