Don’t get me wrong. The Guinness will flow like water today, during and after the Big Apple’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade down Fifth Avenue. Just don’t expect to see any ads for the stout along the parade route.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Guinness USA had dropped its sponsorship, joining protests of a ban on the public expression of gay pride.
Just to clarify, the parade organizers didn’t just single out the gay community in its prohibition on signage. They basically said that no group could “self-identify” … with the notable exception of police and firefighters, who were welcome to wear their dress blues. That wasn’t good enough for the group Irish Queers, which headed the boycott.
Here is part of Guinness’s statement delivered yesterday:
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 As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation.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.
