St. Patrick's parade ends era of barring gay, lesbian groups

For 20 years, Irish-American Emmaia Gelman has been on the sidelines of New York's storied St. Patrick's Day Parade every March, protesting instead of participating.

But on Thursday, Gelman will finally march up Fifth Avenue. A year after a limited easing of the parade's prohibition on gay groups, organizers now have opened the lineup more broadly to include activists who protested the ban for years.

"This is a massive victory," said Gelman, 41, who was repeatedly arrested at parade protests and met her longtime partner at one.