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[UPDATED] Heineken, Sam Adams Pull Out Of St. Patrick's Parades Over LGBTQ Ban
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 16, 2014
Modified Mar 16, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 16, 2014
Modified Mar 16, 2014
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[UPDATE BELOW] Joining Mayor de Blasio and City Council in their boycott of this year's St. Patrick's Day parade, Heineken and Sam Adams have pulled their sponsorship over both the New York and Boston parades' ban on gay groups marching openly.
On Friday, both companies announced they would be dropping their financial support; Sam Adams reportedly pulled out of today's Boston Parade after a popular gay bar threatened to stop serving the beer. "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," Jessica Paar, a spokeswoman for Sam Adams' brewing company, told AM New York in a statement. "But given the current status of the negotiations, we realize this may not be possible."
Heineken withdrew its support from tomorrow's parade in New York. "We believe in equality for all. We are no longer a sponsor of Monday's parade," the company told CNBC in a statement.
Though parade organizers say gay groups are permitted to march, they are not allowed to carry signage identifying their sexualities. GLAAD announced today that famed gay bar the Stonewall Inn will no longer serve Guinness in protest of the company's continued sponsorship of the parade.
Update 6:22 p.m.: Guinness has announced it too will pull its sponsorship from tomorrow's parade. The company released the following statement today:
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 As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation.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 light of Guinness withdrawing support from the parade, the Stonewall Inn will continue to serve the beer.
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