Several brewers, including Guinness, said they were refusing to sponsor St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York and Boston, while mayors of the cities canceled their participation in the events, after gay people weren’t allowed to march under LGBT banners.
Irish brewer Guinness, a key sponsor of the New York City parade, announced on Sunday afternoon it was withdrawing its participation.
“Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all. We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year's parade,” a statement by brewer’s parent company, Diageo, reads. “We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy.”
A few days earlier, two more brewers dropped their sponsorship of St. Patrick’s parades over the gay rights issue: Heineken in New York and Sam Adams in Boston.
Parade organizers have not just faced economic pressure, political tension has also run high, as Boston's Irish-American mayor, Marty Walsh, decided not to visit the city's St. Patrick's Day parade, having failed to persuade organizers to allow gay and lesbian activists to march openly.
Last week New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would not take part in the parade on Monday, also citing the ban on open participation by LGBT community members.
RT
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