BOSTON (AP) — At least two big-city mayors say they’ll boycott St. Patrick’s Day parades to protest policies on gay groups.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh says he’s trying to broker a deal with his city’s parade organizers to allow a group of gay military veterans to march. The son of Irish immigrants said Wednesday that allowing gay groups to participate is “long overdue.”
Parade organizers, however, appear unwilling to budge.
Walsh’s predecessor, longtime Mayor Thomas Menino, had refused to participate in the parade since a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing organizers to exclude gay and lesbian groups.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier said he’s skipping the nation’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan because participants are not allowed to carry signs or banners that identify them as gay.