Friday, March 14, 2014

Sam Adams pulls sponsorship from St. Patrick's Day Parade Due to Exclusion of Gays

Photo: wcvb.com

Gays exclusion led to Boston Beer Company decision 

(WCVB) BOSTON — After its support of the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade led one Boston restaurant to boycott its brew, the Boston Beer Company – which manufactures Sam Adams – has pulled its sponsorship from Sunday's parade.

Club Café, in the South End, had announced it would not serve the company's beer because of the ongoing controversy over the exclusion of openly gay individuals from marching in the parade.

Boston Beer Company said that it is disappointed that an agreement could not be reached between the gay rights advocacy group MassEquality and parade organizers that would have allowed a group of gay veterans to march, despite pressure from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Rep. Stephen Lynch.
"We share these sentiments with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch and others and therefore we will not participate in this year's parade," the Boston Beer Company said in a statement.

"We were hopeful an agreement could be reached to allow everyone, regardless of orientation, to participate in this parade. However, given the current status of the negotiations, this may not be possible," the statement read.

A 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council could include or exclude whichever groups it wanted.

"As a result of this (decision) we are again proud to serve Sam Adams and Boston Beer Company Products," Club Café said in a statement on its Facebook page.

The parade organizers' phone was not answered. The parade, one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in the nation, draws as many as 1 million spectators to South Boston.

UpdateThe Catholic League: Boycott Guinness, Sam Adams, Heineken

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

St Patricks Day is supposed to be a celebration of St Patrick and his gift of the Faith to the people of Ireland. There is no such thing as "gays" and no one is excluded who abides by normal rules of a St Patrick's Day parade.