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St. Patrick's Day parade organizers in Boston say gay veterans can march

BOSTON -- Organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston have decided to allow a gay veterans group to march in this year’s parade, reports CBS Boston.

A lawyer for OutVets said late Friday that the group looked forward to “marching proudly” and representing LGBTQ veterans.

“We are honored and humbled by all the outpouring of support that has been displayed for our LGBTQ veterans - who are one of the most unrepresented demographics in our veterans community,” said lawyer said Dee Dee Edmondson.

Earlier, Bryan Bishop, of OutVets, said the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council offered to allow the group to march if its members did not display the rainbow flag, a symbol of gay pride, which is on their banner and their jackets.

The group said no.

“I almost fell out of the chair at that point, said, ‘You gotta be kidding me,’” Bishop said.

He said OutVets has displayed the rainbow at the parade the last two years.

“It infuriates me to look at the veterans that I know, gay and straight, who have served this country with valor and honor and distinction, and just because you’re a veteran who happens to be gay your service is somehow less than someone who is not of the LGBT community or someone who’s not gay,” he said.

The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston ranks high on the holiday list for many people.

“I’m Irish and I love St. Patrick’s Day. I mean, it’s right below Christmas,” a man told CBS Boston.

Another veterans group, Veterans for Peace, said it also had been denied permission to participate. That group has been trying unsuccessfully for several years to march.

The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council’s vote drew immediate condemnation from high-profile politicians, caused some sponsors to back out and stirred up a furor on social media.

“We are one Boston. We are so beyond this conversation,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh told CBS Boston. He has since dropped out of the parade along with Gov. Charlie Baker.

This year’s Chief Marshal, Dan Magoon, resigned over the vote, reports CBS Boston.

OutVets was first allowed to participate in the parade in 2015, in what was seen as a groundbreaking decision after parade organizers had, for decades, resisted the inclusion of gay groups. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1995 upheld the council’s right to bar gay groups on free speech grounds.

The council said in a statement Thursday its decision had been misinterpreted.

“The council is accepting of all people and organizations, but it will not permit messages that conflict with the overall theme of the parade,” the statement said.

OutVets also was late in submitting its application, the council said.

The Allied War Veterans Council’s decision has resulted in backlash from other veterans’ organizations.

The council is made up of representatives from several South Boston American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts.

The Michael J. Perkins American Legion Post said it had withdrawn from the council.

The Perkins post in a statement on its Facebook page didn’t mention the OutVets decision but said it decided to withdraw because “recent efforts by several non-veteran parade volunteers to guide decision making has resulted in the subversion of the council as an organization being led by veterans.”

Another former member of the council, the Thomas J. Fitzgerald VFW Post, assailed the council’s decision to bar OutVets.

The Fitzgerald post withdrew from the council last year over the decision to bar Veterans for Peace.

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