Time to Switch to Guinness vs Sam Adams..v**e with your pocketbook!
Mar 14, 2014 14:58:22 #
Sam Adams pulls support from Boston St. Patrick's parade over gay rights
Published March 14, 2014
Associated Press
The maker of Sam Adams beer announced Friday that it is withdrawing its sponsorship of Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade because organizers exclude gay groups.
Boston Beer Co.'s decision came a day after a bar in Boston's South End said it would no longer serve Sam Adams beer because of the brewer's affiliation with the parade, which is scheduled for Sunday.
Mayor Martin Walsh and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch have been trying to broker a deal that would have allowed a gay group to march, but those negotiations broke down.
"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. But given the current status of the negotiations, we realize this may not be possible," Boston Beer Co. said in its statement. "We share these sentiments with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch and others and therefore we will not participate in this year's parade."
The brewer said it would continue to sponsor the annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, which is regularly attended by most of the state's major politicians. That is also on Sunday.
A Boston Beer Co. spokeswoman did not immediately return a call.
The parade organizers' phone went unanswered Friday.
The Irish-American mayor said he would not march in the parade unless gay groups were allowed to march.
He tried to broker a deal between the gay rights advocacy group MassE******y and the organizers, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council. A 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that the council could include or exclude whichever groups it wanted.
A sticking point was MassE******y's request that its members be allowed to carry banners or signs identifying themselves as gay, which organizers did not want.
Organizers said they had been "misled," because L**T Veterans for E******y, an affiliate of MassE******y, was not a recognized veterans' organization.
The parade, one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in the nation, draws as many as 1 million spectators to South Boston
Published March 14, 2014
Associated Press
The maker of Sam Adams beer announced Friday that it is withdrawing its sponsorship of Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade because organizers exclude gay groups.
Boston Beer Co.'s decision came a day after a bar in Boston's South End said it would no longer serve Sam Adams beer because of the brewer's affiliation with the parade, which is scheduled for Sunday.
Mayor Martin Walsh and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch have been trying to broker a deal that would have allowed a gay group to march, but those negotiations broke down.
"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. But given the current status of the negotiations, we realize this may not be possible," Boston Beer Co. said in its statement. "We share these sentiments with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch and others and therefore we will not participate in this year's parade."
The brewer said it would continue to sponsor the annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, which is regularly attended by most of the state's major politicians. That is also on Sunday.
A Boston Beer Co. spokeswoman did not immediately return a call.
The parade organizers' phone went unanswered Friday.
The Irish-American mayor said he would not march in the parade unless gay groups were allowed to march.
He tried to broker a deal between the gay rights advocacy group MassE******y and the organizers, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council. A 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that the council could include or exclude whichever groups it wanted.
A sticking point was MassE******y's request that its members be allowed to carry banners or signs identifying themselves as gay, which organizers did not want.
Organizers said they had been "misled," because L**T Veterans for E******y, an affiliate of MassE******y, was not a recognized veterans' organization.
The parade, one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in the nation, draws as many as 1 million spectators to South Boston
Mar 15, 2014 07:32:43 #
Coos Bay Tom
Loc: coos bay oregon
I don't like Sam Adams beer and wouldn't go to Boston anyway.Gay parades are a spectacle and even some gays think they are shameful and bring on bad publicity.I say keep it off the streets and don't scare the horses.
Mar 15, 2014 11:10:24 #
Another great idea, stop buying an American product because the company that produces the product supports civil rights and instead buy a foreign product. Patriotism at its finest!
Mar 15, 2014 11:26:45 #
Coos Bay Tom
Loc: coos bay oregon
Guinness sucks as a beer. I would rather drink Sam Adams even with its over hopped bite. Pressure from h**ers drove Sam Adams to their decision . The h**ers won. oh joy for them.
Kevyn wrote:
Another great idea, stop buying an American product because the company that produces the product supports civil rights and instead buy a foreign product. Patriotism at its finest!
Mar 15, 2014 19:00:52 #
Kevyn wrote:
Another great idea, stop buying an American product because the company that produces the product supports civil rights and instead buy a foreign product. Patriotism at its finest!
Well shazzam Kevyn. People choosing not to patronize a business they disagree with. I mean it ain't like they can't drink some other American beer, or organized the boycott that shut the business down with the help of State guvment and put folks permanently out of work. Now I wish, I wish I could member who did that to a small business they were offended by!!! Oh yea it just came to me. In Oregon a bakery closed it's doors after refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.
Now it is a really good thing that folks can choose to drink another beer. What a shame they can't just find another freakin bakery.
Mar 15, 2014 20:05:40 #
Kevyn wrote:
Another great idea, stop buying an American product because the company that produces the product supports civil rights and instead buy a foreign product. Patriotism at its finest!
Kevyn: Fudge Packing is not civil rights!!!
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