When Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny read on Facebook about how Miss Staten Island and representatives of the Pride Center there were excluded from the borough's St. Patrick's Day parade, the newly minted elected official immediately reacted.

She commented: "Invite her to March in the Pearl River Parade with me ☘️ ☘️ ☘️"

After all, Kenny said Monday, "They call Pearl River the Town of Friendly People."

Rockland County Pride Center Executive Director Brooke Malloy, whose original post elicited Kenny's comment, connected with the Pride Center of Staten Island.

"I'll be there," said Carol Bullock, executive director of the Pride Center of Staten Island. "I'm honored to be invited. It helps the overall LGBTQ community have visibility."

As of today, Madison L'Insalata, Miss Staten Island 2020, had yet to respond to the Orangetown supervisor's invite.

The Pearl River St. Patrick's Day parade, the largest in the state besides Manhattan's, starts at 1:30 p.m. March 22.

Kenny's response to a Staten Island LGBTQ representative joining her? "Good!" She said she hopes L'Insalata can join too. "The more the merrier."

"I actually was shocked when I read it," Kenny said of the Staten Island parade flap.

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The Staten Island drama unfolded just a day before their March 1 parade. On Feb. 29, L'Insalata said that she planned to wear a rainbow scarf and identified herself as bisexual. Within hours, she was banned from the parade. The Pride Center of Staten Island has been banned for years, despite applying to march.

'We're an open parade'

Kenny, a Republican who was just sworn in two months ago, said she didn't talk to anyone at the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, which organizes the Pearl River parade, the second largest in the state. "I saw no reason."

John McGowan, president of the Rockland County AOH, said he wasn't aware of Kenny's invite. "We don't get involved at that level," McGowan said.

McGowan is also a newly elected Rockland County legislator, representing District 15.

"We're an open parade," McGowan said. "It's a really happy, celebratory day."

Malloy said the Rockland Pride Center has marched for the past couple years and plans to have a presence in this year's parade

The first year the Pride Center marched, Malloy said, the need for their presence was made clear. "When we turned the corner onto Main, it was overwhelming cheers. From grandparents, from young kids, from the teenagers, from the parents."

Bullock's Pride Center has yet to make in the borough's St. Patrick's Day parade. "Every year I go in," Bullock said. "They don't let me apply."

Despite the organizers' exclusion, Staten Island still represented LGBTQ pride, Bullock said. Plenty of rainbow flags and attire could be seen in the crowd. L'Insalata also attended, wearing that rainbow scarf.

"It was more of a pride parade than a St. Patrick's Day," Bullock said on Monday. "It was just really supportive from the community."

Participating in the Rockland parade will be a return of sorts for Bullock. A former Nanuet resident, she's been to Pearl River's parade a couple times, she said, but has only seen it from the sidelines.

Bipartisan pride in Rockland

When Kenny extended her Facebook invitation to Staten Island LGBTQ representatives, Rockland Legislator James Foley, also a new Republican officeholder, replied to Kenny to "count me in as well."

Bullock said it matters not that Kenny is a Republican, Democrat or any other party.

She pointed out that New York City Councilman Joe Borelli, a conservative Republican, said he was stopped from marching after refusing to remove a small rainbow flag pin in his lapel as a sign of solidarity. Staten Island Borough President James Oddo, a Republican, has also boycotted the parade over the Pride Center of Staten Island's exclusion.

"For me it just shows it is a bipartisan issue," Bullock said. "Discrimination doesn't pick a side. It's being a good human."

Malloy agreed. "While we don't agree on everything in Rockland County, there's never been a time where we wanted to do something that we didn't feel supported." Malloy said, noting that bipartisan allyship reaches back to Rockland's first Pride Day in 1999.

While a parade may just appear to be about fun, Malloy and Bullock said the stakes are high for inclusion.

"If we can help send a message to kids in Rockland that it's OK to celebrate who you are," Bullock said, "it could be a lifesaver."

If you go

Rockland County Hibernians' 58th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade steps off at 1:30 p.m. March 22 from the Pfizer parking lot, turns east onto East Crooked Hill Road, then south onto North Middletown Road, then west onto East Central Avenue, then south onto South Main Street, and ends in the area of the Pearl River post office.

The parade route shuts to vehicles at noon.

This year's grand marshal is Frank McDonagh, a retired NYPD detective and member of the Pearl River Division III Ancient Order of Hibernians. McDonagh has organized parade appearances of World War II veterans, who ride the route in classic cars.

Parade commander is Suffern Police Sgt. Deirdre Smith-Withers, a 22-year veteran of the force and recipient of the 2005 Rockland County PBA Medal of Valor.

Information: www.rocklandcountyaoh.com

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy. Click here for her latest stories. Follow her on Twitter at @nancyrockland. Support local journalism; go to lohud.com/specialoffer to find out how.