Guinness beer has pulled its sponsorship from New York’s famed St. Patrick’s day parade over a controversial policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from marching openly, according to reports.
“Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all,” the company said in a statement on the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation website.
“We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year’s parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy.”
Heineken and Sam Adams also pulled sponsorships from St. Patrick’s Day Parades. Both mayors of New York City and Boston have boycotted their respective parades because gays are not allowed to march openly or under a GBLT banner.
We aren’t talking about nudity and chaps here. All parades need dress codes that meet a standard of decency and are family friendly. Both parades forbid any groups to march as a gay group or under a banner designating the group as part of the GBLT community. The only sponsor from corporate America is Ford Motor.
Who are the organizers of the St. Paddy’s Day parades? Is this a church related edict? As long as the marchers don’t resort to pride type tactics, who cares what banner they march under. It’s time to modernize. Good for Guiness.
The NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade (1762) has been a parade for longer than there has been a NYC. It is the only parade that is marched on its moving day of the week. The organizers is the AOH – Ancient Order of Hibernians – an Irish Catholic Organization. It was only about 10 years ago or so that they started to accept any sponsorship at all. It is not so much that LBGT cannot march – as they can a part of another group, as individuals. What the parade organizers do not allow is for them to march as a group – as the only marchers in the Parade are Bands and Organizations that are affiliated with the AOH in some way. They are not telling the LBGT people that they cannot march – they are saying they cannot march as a group – the same way as they do not allow the boys scouts or a karate school to march. It is a private parade and receives no public funding. Do they have to let a group march just because it wants to? The LBGT community has made this into a we cannot march mantra – but that is not the point, sure there is probably some homophobism going on, but they do not allow non affiliated groups to march – none of them. Here is the marching order for this years event.
http://nebula.wsimg.com/b74a0fe95948fdbb26d2a5db774c15e8?AccessKeyId=D62B40777A3DE4850495&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
I didn’t realize the boy scouts and other people couldn’t march. How does one get recognized as AOH affiliated? How about the St. Paddy’;s Day parade in Boston? Same deal?
Has someone told Guiness? It sounds like a mighty short parade if that is the case. I would boycott it anyway just because of general exclusion.
Yes Boston is also affiliated with the AOH. It is far from a short parade – and no shortage of groups that want to participate. They can march – just not as a group. I do support them – because why should LBGT march as a group when other groups cannot. The Parade organizers only started letting in sponsors a short time ago (10 or so years) as it became too expensive for cleanup and such. Why should they have to allow a minority group be represented when they do not let other groups be represented. There are many groups that ask to march and are refused. THe LBGT community tries every year to make this about the LBGT lifestyle – and it may partially be – but the legal standing is that the LGBT group does not meet the qualifications to march in the parade. If they did allow other outside groups to march then the group would have standing.
Should a Jewish parade allow a Palestinian group? The NAACP allow a KKK group?
I understand that the Boston St. Patrick’s Day group allowed veterans groups and others in the parade. Are they AOH? It sounds arbitrary to me.
Speaking of the Boy Scouts … a larger, more interesting story of intolerance going out of fashion … this story was in the news recently, Disney being the latest company to pull funding to them because of the ban on gay scout leaders.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/us/disney-pulls-boy-scouts-funding/
AOH is like the knights of Columbus. I’ve been an auxiliary member since I was 18. You really have to be Irish.
The people I have known who are AOH always seemed more tolerant than the Knights.
So lyssa, do you agree with Guiness or with Pat Herve?
I frequently disagree with Pat, but his comment #1 deserves praise. Media articles that call attention to withdrawn sponsorships and other disputes often leave out key details, such as the fact that requests to march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade are denied for groups that are unaffiliated with AOH. I appreciate his making that known.
Hope everyone had a great St Patrick’s Day.
If everyone is treated equally then I will agree with Pat. If there is deviance and groups without affiliation are allowed in, then not so much.
I can’t imagine why the AOH wouldn’t expand a little more. How many groups can there be that are affiliated. Define affiliated.
If it’s a private parade, does AOH pay for the police,
which I assume is needed during the parade?
Thanks Kelly.
I am most familiar with the NYC Saint Patrick’s parade – not all parades are run by the same committee. I do not believe they pay for the police, as the NYPD provides the services for many demonstrations and other parades. But the Parade Committee does pay for clean up, painting the green stripe, seating stands and other incidentals. It is also a big tourism boost for the city. This had gone to the Supreme Court in the mid 1990’s and it was affirmed that they have to right to exclude a group from marching.
It is less about them being from LBGT – the Irish group from Manassas would also be told no, as would the students from Stuyvesant high school (in Manhattan).