The man who chaired the NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade, and banned LGBT groups from marching for decades, has been forced out. But will LGBT groups be allowed to march next year?
For 22 years John Dunleavy has kept LGBT groups from marching in the world-famous St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Those days may be coming to and end. Dunleavy overnight was forced out as chairman after an interview he gave recently drew anger and ire, with Dunleavy saying gays would again “have a problem” next year marching in the parade.
After top sponsors, including Heineken and Guinness dropped their sponsorship of the parade over Dunleavy’s anti-gay ban in 2014, a tiny compromise was reached this year, allowing an NBC LGBT employees’ group to march. The expectation was that was the start of more groups being included, but Dunleavy made clear it was a one-time accommodation.
“In April, Dunleavy said that he planned on seeking another term as parade chairman, but his position became untenable because of his fierce opposition to allowing gay groups to march,” IrishCentral reports exclusively today. “Dr. John Lahey, the parade’s vice chairman and president of Quinnipiac University, was prepared to resign his position as chairman of the parade’s media deals if Dunleavy and his allies mustered enough support to prevent gay groups from taking part in next year’s event.”
Will LGBT groups be allowed to march next year as a result? And if so, will anti-gay groups like the Catholic League boycott?
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Image by The All-Nite Images via Flickr and a CC license