STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- The head organizer of Staten Island’s annual St. Patrick’s Parade has banned all pageant winners from marching, the Advance has learned.

As a result, the decision has thwarted Miss Staten Island’s controversial plans to march in support of the LGBTQ community, after the Pride Center of Staten Island had again been excluded from participating.

Madison L’Insalata, Miss Staten Island 2020, announced publicly Saturday she’s bisexual, and would be wearing a rainbow colored scarf while waving from the back of a convertible along the parade route in West Brighton.

Hours after her announcement made headlines, parade head Larry Cummings placed a call to pageant director Jim Smith to inform him all pageant winners, the cars they were set to ride in and the drivers were banned from the parade for “safety” reasons, Smith said.

Smith said he didn’t press Cummings about what he specifically was meant by “safety reasons.”

“I didn’t ask because I didn’t think he was going to say that; I thought he’d say she couldn’t wear rainbow colors," said Smith. “The fact he called at 10 p.m., I knew he wasn’t going to argue with me.”

Cummings did not respond to Advance requests for comment over the weekend.

L’Insalata, 23, said she plans to attend the annual politicians breakfast at Jody’s on Forest Avenue prior to the start of the parade, and is looking forward to hearing if any officials would speak to the ongoing controversy surrounding the parade.

“(The parade) is a tradition I hold in a special place in my heart, so it’s upsetting that this is what it’s come to,” said L’Insalata, who attended Notre Dame Academy Elementary School, Grymes Hill, and has attended either the parade or parade-related events nearly every year.

She said that while she’s disappointed, she wouldn’t completely put it past a person in the crowd to act negatively, or potentially dangerously, toward a showing of LGBTQ pride.

Fellow Staten Island pageant winners also were banned from participating, though according to a source familiar with the pageant, Miss Staten Island’s Outstanding Teen, Angelica Santos Mroczek, and Miss Richmond County, Gabby Ryan, already had decided not to march in protest of the Pride Center being excluded.

Smith said it was tough delivering the news to Miss Richmond County’s Outstanding Teen, Victoria Montouri, 17, who L’Insalata said had remained “neutral” on the issue.

“I felt sad,” said Smith. " She called me back and she was almost in tears... They look forward to this parade every year."

Smith -- who is openly gay -- went on to say that when he filled out the applications for the pageant winners to participate, he wasn’t aware L’Insalata was bisexual. He recited the parade rules for applying, which state any sexual identity agenda is forbidden from the parade.

He said based on the rules, L’Insalata shouldn’t have been allowed to promote an LGBTQ agenda.

And while controversy continues to swirl around the event in regard to the LGBTQ community, Smith said he’s watched the parade since he was a child and plans on doing so again this year.

Meanwhile, at Silver Lake Park, the 5th annual “Rainbow Run” is being held, in part to raise awareness for The Pride Center of Staten Island being excluded from marching.