"You mean the ones that are "out", right? I suspect that more than one gay person has marched in that parade over the years."

Amen to that. Indeed, I have my suspicions about some of the very clerics who are most adamant about banning their more outspoken brethern.

"I'd be a bit more sympathetic if the majority of people who "celebrate" St Patrick's Day were ever actually seen in a church."

Actually, for me, it's the more secular group who deserve the most sympathy. They wish only to celebrate their national/ethnic identity, but are being hindered by a bureaucracy whose authority they do not recognize.