Every March 17 for the last few years, New York’s political establishment has always asked the same question: what will City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn do? After all, when Ms. Quinn, an openly gay Irish American, became speaker in 2006, the organizers of the city’s signature St. Patrick’s Day Parade, down Fifth Avenue, made it clear that while she could march as an inspanidual and as a city official, she could not display anything hinting at gay pride — not a pin, not a button, not a sash. So she boycotted the event.

In 2007, she did march in a St. Patrick’s Day parade — but in Dublin, at the request of the city council and parade organizers there. Nor did she make up an appearance on Fifth Avenue last year; she was attending Gov. David A. Paterson’s inauguration in Albany.

This year, Ms. Quinn will mark St. Patrick’s Day in yet another city not named New York: Washington. She will attend a reception for Irish-Americans at the White House Tuesday night hosted by President Obama, and featuring Prime Minister Brian Cowen of Ireland.

Ms. Quinn — the 2008 recipient of the Irish American of the Year award from the Irish Echo, the oldest and largest Irish-American newspaper — said in an interview that she was honored. But she also said that she felt a bit of “sadness” that she also wouldn’t be able to celebrate on Fifth Avenue, alongside the estimated 150,000 people who march every year either.