UPDATE: This uproar resolved itself:
A South Boston veterans council, facing withering criticism, reversed course Friday and extended an unconditional invitation to the group of gay veterans it had barred from marching in the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
The move clears the way for OUTVETS, a group of LGBT veterans, to march in the March 19 parade with its rainbow banner and logo, a point of contention that the Allied War Veterans Council had cited when it voted Tuesday to reject the organization.
Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker and Boston mayor Martin Walsh announced they would skip the city's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade after organizers blocked an LGBTQ veterans group called OutVets from marching. Liam Stack writes:
In a statement, the mayor encouraged the public to do the same.
“I will not tolerate discrimination in our city of any form,” Mr. Walsh said. “I will not be marching in the parade unless this is resolved. Anyone who values what our city stands for should do the same.”
Mr. Baker said it “doesn’t make any sense” to exclude the group.
“If veterans’ groups aren’t allowed to march in that parade for whatever reason, then I’ll probably do something else,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
The board of the parade organizers voted 9 to 4 to block the group's participation, prompting the parade's chief marshal, Dan Magoon, to step down from his position. Though the event doesn't explicitly ban LGBTQ groups, the code of conduct dictates that sexual orientation shouldn't "in any way" be advertised or displayed.
Bryan Bishop, the founder of OutVets, said parade organizers told him on Wednesday night that a small rainbow patch that has been part of the group’s logo since 2014 was found to be in violation of that rule. “My jaw just dropped on the floor,” he said.
The group wore the very same jackets in 2015 and 2016, but apparently this year it was deemed too flagrant. But as the boycotts started pouring in Thursday, event organizers planned an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the decision.