US: Boston Mayor to boycott St Patrick’s Day parade if gay groups can’t join in
The Mayor of Boston has said he plans to boycott his city’s St Patrick’s Day parade, if gay groups are not allowed to take part.
Mayor Martin Walsh made the announcement on Wednesday, that he intends to reach a deal with parade organisers to allow gay military veterans to march.
The event usually brings in around a million revellers each year.
Walsh described a potential decision to allow gay groups to participate in 2014 would be “long overdue”.
Organisers of the parade have however, said they will continue to exclude gay and lesbian groups, pointing to a US Supreme Court ruling in 1995 which allowed such discrimination.
They have gone further to say that Walsh does not have the power to go against that ruling.
