Business & Tech

Sam Adams Cancels St. Paddy's Parade Sponsorship After LGBT Controversy

The parade will be held Sunday.

The Boston Beer Company, which makes Sam Adams beer, said on Friday it revoked its sponsorship of Sunday's St. Patrick's Day Parade after a controversy over the inclusion of LGBT groups.

MassEquality, which promotes LGBT rights, was invited to march in the parade—a move that came shortly after Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said he would boycott the parade unless gay groups were allowed to march.

But the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, which is sponsoring the parade, took back the invitation, saying it was misled by LGBT Veterans of Equality, an affiliate of MassEquality.

The Boston Beer Company released the following statement Friday:

"We have been participating in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade for nearly a decade and have also supported the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast year after year. We’ve done so because of the rich history of the event and to support veterans who have done so much for this country.

We were hopeful that both sides of this issue would be able to come to an agreement that would allow everyone, regardless of orientation, to participate in the parade. But given the current status of the negotiations, we realize this may not be possible.

We share these sentiments with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch and others and therefore we will not participate in this year’s parade. We will continue to support Senator Linda Dorcena Forry and her St. Patrick’s Day breakfast. We wish her all the best in her historic stewardship of this tradition."


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