Fox News criticized New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over his decision not to march in the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade due to the parade's refusal to allow LGBT groups to participate.

On February 2, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he would not be attending the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade due to its long-standing policy banning LGBT groups from participating in the parade:

“I am not planning on marching in the parade,” Mayor de Blasio said at a City Hall press conference on Tuesday.

“I will be participating in a number of other events to honor the Irish heritage of this city, but I simply disagree with the organizers of that parade,” he added.

On February 6 and 7, several Fox News personalities attacked de Blasio for his decision, accusing him of being a “religious bigot” and disrespecting Irish Catholics who oppose homosexuality:

The attack on de Blasio echoes comments Bill O'Reilly made in 2006, when he criticized then New York City Councilwoman Christine Quinn's decision not to appear in the parade. O'Reilly made a similar argument at the time, arguing that allowing LGBT groups to participate in the parade would be akin to “walk[ing] into a church ... with 'I'm Queer' on your shirt” because St. Patrick's Day is a celebration of “a saint.” O'Reilly also worried that gay people would be “intruding on a parade where little children are... watching.”

Fox's reaction to de Blasio's abstention from the parade aligns with the network's record of giving anti-gay discrimination a free pass by conflating homophobia with Christianity.