REVERSAL: Boston St. Patrick’s Parade Organizers Allow Gay Veterans Group After Backlash From Sponsors

Boston’s Fox affiliate reports:

After several days of back and forth, organizers of the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade have decided to allow LGBT veterans group OUTVETS to participate. The decision was announced in a tweet from parade organizers just before 4:30 p.m. Friday.

“This is something that had to be fixed. This is something that I needed to do,” parade organizer Tim Duross said. OUTVETS had initially been denied entry because parade organizers said they violated the code of conduct which prohibits ‘the advertisement or display of one’s sexual orientation’ by carrying a rainbow flag and wearing a logo with a rainbow on it.

After the initial decision to deny OUTVETS’ application, several companies decided to pull their sponsorship and several prominent politicians announced they would not be participating if the LGBT group was not allowed to march.

Acceptance letter signed by Parade Organizer to allow @OUTVETS to march in 2017 parade.

— St. Patrick’s Parade (@ParadeBoston) March 10, 2017