Boycott Guinness, Sam Adams, Heineken - Catholic League

By Bill Donohue

(The Catholic League)  Bill Donohue is calling for a boycott of Guinness, Heineken, and Sam Adams:

Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, and Heineken, have pulled their sponsorship of New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade; the Boston Beer Company, maker of Sam Adams, has withdrawn its sponsorship of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

None of these companies believe in diversity. No gay person has ever been barred from marching in any St. Patrick’s Day parade, anymore than the parade bans pro-life Catholics or vegetarian Catholics; they simply cannot march under their own banner. The parade has one cause: honoring St. Patrick. Those who disagree do not have to march—that’s what diversity is all about.

The parade is quintessentially Catholic, beginning with a Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is this Catholic element that angers those who are engaged in a bullying campaign against the St. Patrick’s Day parades. The bullies also have nothing but contempt for the constitutional rights of Irish Catholics.

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 decision that the First Amendment guarantees the right of private parade organizers to determine its own rules for marching. It is this liberty that the makers of Guinness, Heineken, and Sam Adams want to squash.

I have had my last Guinness and Sam Adams. Heineken was always slop, so there is no sacrifice there. I urge Catholics, and all those who believe in tolerance, diversity, and the First Amendment, to join with me in boycotting these brews.

To contact Guinness, email: press.office@diageo.com
To contact Heineken, email: pressoffice@heineken.com
To contact Sam Adams, email: jessica.paar@bostonbeer.com

Link:

• Boycott Guinness, Sam Adams, Heineken

Related:

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

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.

Update:  The Catholic League: Boycott Guinness, Sam Adams, Heineken

Link:

• Sam Adams pulls sponsorship from St. Patrick's Day Parade