Miss Staten Island Madison L’Insalata was barred from marching in a St. Patrick’s Day parade held in her borough on Sunday, a day after she came out as bisexual to local media and announced her plans to don rainbow colors during the event, the New York Post reports.

According to the newspaper, the 23-year-old was expected to march in the parade on Sunday but was barred by organizers behind the event shortly after she revealed that she was bisexual to the newspaper on Saturday.

After she came out about her sexual orientation to the paper and disclosed that she would be wearing a rainbow colors at the event, Jim Smith, the executive director of Miss Staten Island Scholarship pageants, told the Post that he received a call from a parade organizer that said L’Insalata would not be able to march in the parade, citing “safety reasons.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Smith told the paper that the organizer, Larry Cummings, also barred another pageant queen who came out in support of L’Insalata.

“None of them can march,” Smith said, adding: “He was not to be bargained with — you can’t talk to him.”

According to the Post, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Staten Island has gotten heat in the past for not allowing the Pride Center of Staten Island to participate in the parade with its own banner.

When discussing the parade’s reasoning behind the decision in an interview with the Staten Island Advance last month, Cummings said “it’s a non-sexual identification parade and that’s that.”

“No, they are not marching. Don’t try to keep asking a million friggin’ questions, OK?” he added.

In an interview with the Post on Sunday, L’Insalata said the reported move to bar her from marching in the parade was “definitely a curveball.”

“I was really looking forward to being there and having a discussion, and now there won’t be. It’s sad this had to happen. I thought I was doing something good. You want to be part of the change,” she continued.

According to the State Island Advance, a local councilman said he was also barred from participating in the parade over a clothing pin he wore depicting the pride flag.

"They [the parade marshals] physically blocked me, my wife and two boys in strollers," Councilman Joseph Borelli (R) told the outlet.

“They called the police on me. I spoke to a sergeant and was not going to make the life of our cops more complicated to prove a point. ...I didn’t come with it looking for an argument; my friends handed a pin to me," he continued. "I really didn’t think it was a big affront to the Irish."