This past Memorial Day, one of the largest-ever Peace Parades followed the Veterans Parade down East Avenue and Main Street. There were bagpipes, drums, street theater, and the Raging Grannies, huge banners and an endless string of names of US soldiers killed in Iraq. The parade, which included local anti-war groups, veterans groups, and faith-based peace groups, was enthusiastically greeted by the parade crowds.

Unfortunately, this Peace Parade, which honors the dead without glorifying war and militarism, was pushed to the very end of the event. Again. With a wide gap between us and the end of the Veterans Parade, strictly enforced by the police.

This has been the history of the local Peace Parade for years, banned from the Veterans Parade, forced to have its own parade permit, and forced to come last. This year we tried to do things differently, following all the right procedures, but still the city wouldn't let us go first.

Here's how the story went:

Honoring the City Special Events Office's "intent to strictly adhere to required timelines and the first come, first served policy" (underlined in the city's regulations), we paid the fees and applied for a parade permit for 10:30 a.m. on Memorial Day. We were the only parade applicant meeting the deadline for Memorial Day.

We were eventually informed by the City Special Events Office that our application conflicted with the Veterans Parade. When I reminded the clerk that we had applied first and in fact were the only applicant meeting the deadline, I was told that the Veterans Parade had been "grandfathered in." When I asked why we still could not go first, as requested, the clerk told me she would have to check with the police.

Over a week later, I was told that the police had approved our permit, but only following the Veterans Parade, as in years past, for "logistical reasons." I then contacted police lieutenant in charge of the Special Events Unit, who had made that determination. In our brief phone conversation, the lieutenant thanked me for my cordiality on this historically controversial matter, hastening to assure me that his decision was not in any way ideological or political but rather only logistical.

When I inquired about the logistical problems, the lieutenant noted only one reason: that a prior parade would "disrupt the staging areas." I explained that in fact our relatively small contingent could simply convene along the start of the route without requiring any changes in Veterans Parade staging areas at all. But rather than considering this solution, he abruptly insisted that his decision, approved by a deputy chief of police, was final.

I subsequently called the deputy chief repeatedly, leaving four messages, receiving a written reply only after sending him a letter, copied to the chief of police. In his reply, the deputy chief refers again to "logistical requirements and coordination inside and outside the agency" needed to manage the parade. He asserts that "the ultimate decision lies with Police Department" and is "in no way meant to penalize your organization, nor was it ideological or politically based."

Despite such repeated insistence, I can only conclude - from the absence of details, the unwillingness to negotiate a solution, and the disregard for official procedures - that there is indeed more to this than logistics. Our efforts to put peace first will continue.

Douglas D. Noble, Brunswick Street, Rochester (Noble is a member of Peace Action and Education of Metro Justice.)