<P> In 1875 Louisiana declared Mardi Gras a legal state holiday . War, economic, political, and weather conditions sometimes led to cancellation of some or all major parades, especially during the American Civil War, World War I and World War II, but the city has always celebrated Carnival . </P> <P> 1972 was the last year in which large parades went through the narrow streets of the city's French Quarter section; larger floats, crowds, and fire safety concerns led the city government to prohibit parades in the Quarter . Major parades now skirt the French Quarter along Canal Street . </P> <P> In 1979 the New Orleans police department went on strike . The official parades were canceled or moved to surrounding communities, such as Jefferson Parish . Significantly fewer tourists than usual came to the city . Masking, costuming, and celebrations continued anyway, with National Guard troops maintaining order . Guardsmen prevented crimes against persons or property but made no attempt to enforce laws regulating morality or drug use; for these reasons, some in the French Quarter bohemian community recall 1979 as the city's best Mardi Gras ever . </P> <P> In 1991 the New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance that required social organizations, including Mardi Gras Krewes, to certify publicly that they did not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, to obtain parade permits and other public licenses . Shortly after the law was passed, the city demanded that these krewes provide them with membership lists, contrary to the long - standing traditions of secrecy and the distinctly private nature of these groups . In protest--and because the city claimed the parade gave it jurisdiction to demand otherwise - private membership lists--the 19th - century krewes Comus and Momus stopped parading . Proteus did parade in the 1992 Carnival season but also suspended its parade for a time, returning to the parade schedule in 2000 . </P>

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