An Irish LGBTQ group is to march in next year's St Patrick's Day parade in New York City, after organisers dropped their ban on such groups.
The Lavender and Green Alliance will march with its own banner in the parade next March 17th.
"This is a victory for the grassroots organising, civil disobedience, and street protest of the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization and its successor, Irish Queers", the Irish Queers group says in a statement.
"From the beginning, our demand has been for an Irish LGBTQ contingent to march behind their own banner saying who they are, like all other contingents. Today's decision to invite the Lavender and Green Alliance does just that".
"It's also a victory for our beautiful queer and Irish community of support, stretching from New York City to Ireland and beyond".
"We look forward to marching up Fifth Avenue with our community," it adds.
"Everybody knows it's been such a long road getting here," Brendan Fay, who founded the Lavender & Green Alliance in 1994, told WCBS 880.
"We are transformed from being cultural outsiders to becoming insiders in our own Irish community".
A statement released by the parade directors says: "The Lavender & Green Alliance will be the second lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender group to march in the historic parade, joining Out@NBC which marched in the 2015 parade and has been invited to march again in 2016".
