Guinness has pulled its sponsorship of New York City's massive St Patrick’s Day parade after organisers refused to change the anti-gay policy of the annual event. It follows Heineken’s withdrawal from the NYC parade for the same reason.
The Irish brewing giant, which is one of the biggest sponsors of the parade, said in a statement: ‘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. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation.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.’
In Boston, the Boston Beer Company also pulled its sponsorship of the parade because it excludes openly LGBT groups.
New York’s recently-appointed Mayor, Bill De Blasio, last month announced he would not attend or support the festivities, saying in a news conference: ‘I simply disagree with the organisers of that parade in their exclusion of some individuals in this city.’ Boston’s Mayor Marty Walsh announced on Sunday he would be boycotting the parade in his hometown, too.
The oraganisers of the parade in New York say that LGBT groups can march, but are not allowed to identify themselves as gay with banners and so on. That means no rainbows! Which is kind of crazy when you consider Ireland is the land of leprechauns and rainbows and pots of gold and so on.
Thankfully, pots of gold really make people listen, so it will be very interesting to see how the parade’s policy changes next year, following the withdrawal this week of such major brands.
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.