Uproar after gay veterans group denied spot in Boston St. Patrick's Day parade

BOSTON -- A gay veterans group said Wednesday it has been denied permission to march in this year’s Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade just two years after organizers made the groundbreaking decision to allow gay groups to participate for the first time.

OutVets, which marched in Boston’s 2015 St. Patrick’s Day parade after decades of resistance from organizers, said on its Facebook page that the reason for the denial to this year’s parade is unclear, but “one can only assume it’s because we are LGBTQ.”

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says he won’t be marching in the parade if the group is excluded, CBS Boston reports.

“I will not tolerate discrimination in our city of any form. We are one Boston, which means we are a fully inclusive city,” Walsh said in a statement Wednesday morning. “I will not be marching in the parade unless this is resolved. Anyone who values what our city stands for should do the same.”

The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, the parade’s organizer, voted 9-4 Tuesday to keep the group out of the March 19 parade. Emails and phone messages seeking comment on the reasoning were not immediately returned Wednesday morning. OutVets and parade organizers are planning to meet at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon, CBS Boston reported. 

Ed Flynn, a member of the council, says he voted to allow OutVets to participate. The Navy veteran said he is “saddened and outraged” that the council “voted to turn back the clock on equality.”

Mass Fallen Heroes Executive Director Dan Magoon said in a statement he was withdrawing as chief marshal of the parade this year because he can’t support the council’s decision.

“The freedom that we possess to hold such an event as the St. Patrick’s Parade, is due to the men and women who have spilled their blood in defense to this great nation, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation,” he said.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker also said he would not participate, while Democratic U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton called for a boycott of the parade. Moulton, who served four tours of duty in Iraq, has marched with OutVets previously. 

A spokesperson from Anheuser-Busch told CBS News the company is “re-evaluating our participation in this event.”

“We are disappointed to learn that the OUTVETS, who have proudly served this country, have been denied entry to the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade,” the company said.

Restricting a veterans group from marching in a parade that honors veterans “doesn’t make any sense to me,” Baker said.

The vote left OutVets leadership stunned.

“It’s disgusting and disgraceful that they would do this to their own, because we are veterans like them,” said Bryan Bishop, an Air Force veteran who founded OutVets.

The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council’s legal battle to keep gay organizations out of the parade went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in its favor in 1995. 

“This is a black eye on South Boston,” Bishop said.