(New York City) There was no wearin’ of the pink once again in this year’s St Patrick’s Day Parade down Fifth Avenue. For 18 years the Ancient Order of Hibernians which organizes the parade has barred Irish gay groups from marching. 

The city’s highest ranking gay politician, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, boycotted the parade again this year.

Quinn was at the White House where President Barack Obama welcomed the Prime Minister of Ireland.

Last year, Quinn missed the parade to attend David Paterson’s swearing in as the new governor. The year before she was in Ireland where gays marched openly in the parade in Dublin.

Before leaving for Washington, Quinn said she hoped to talk with the President about LGBT issues.

As she did before last year’s parade, Quinn attempted to set up a meeting between the Hibernians and gay representatives and again this year the conservative Catholic men’s group ignored the invitation.

The Hibernians claim the parade is a private, religious procession in order to to justify keeping LGBT groups out.

In the early 1990s, the parade committee used the argument to defeat a discrimination claim brought by the NYC Human Rights Commission. 

A federal judge ruled that the organization could bar the gay group on the grounds of religious freedom. 

The New York parade is the nation’s largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, but gays are also rejected at marches in other cities, including Boston.