A Catholic Church Is Honored During Pride Parade

One of the half-million parade-goers expected at Pride March on Sunday has elected to sponsor an unlikely institution to honor during the annual celebration: a Catholic Church.

To support events during Pride weekend, organizers get sponsors for each block along the parade route and allow individuals to donate in honor of people and institutions that are important to members of the LGBT community.

For Dava Weinstein, her sponsorship dollars are going to honor St. Francis Xavier Church on West 15th Street.

Weinstein, who is Jewish, said her partner of more than 35 years is Catholic and that's how she was first introduced to the LGBT ministries at the West Village church.

"I respect their commitment to their own lives and to their church," said Weinstein, who sponsored the block of Fifth Avenue between 15th and 16th streets parallel to the church, "and I thought it was worth supporting, worth honoring."

The ministries are completely grass-roots groups, formed and run by parishioners.

Last year, for the first time in 15 years, Archbishop Timothy Dolan asked the group not to carry a banner for the Church of St. Francis Xavier at the Pride Parade, and the group complied.

This year, they plan to again honor again wishes of the Archbishop. But they will be carrying a banner bearing just these words: Saint Francis Xavier, come to the table.