According to boston.com, Boston Beer Company - manufacturers of Sam Adams Beer - have withdrawn their support for this weekend's St. Patrick's Day Parade due to the parades organizers exclusion of LGBT Irish American groups.
Boston Beer's decision comes in the wake of an announcement from South Boston's Club Cafe that they would no longer serve Sam Adams beer due to the brewers association with the parade.
On their Facebook page, Club Cafe had posted that they were "disappointed that Sam Adams does not understand that the organizers of the St. Patrick's Day Parade continue to demonstrate that they do not respect LGBT Irish Americans by excluding LGBT members of this community from openly marching in the St.Patrick's Day Parade."
In response, Boston Beer Company issued a statement today:
"We have been participating in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade for nearly a decade and have also supported the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast year after year. We’ve done so because of the rich history of the event and to support veterans who have done so much for this country.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.
We share these sentiments with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch and others and therefore we will not participate in this year’s parade. We will continue to support Senator Linda Dorcena Forry and her St. Patrick’s Day breakfast. We wish her all the best in her historic stewardship of this tradition."
Writing on Facebook, Club Cafe has since commended Boston Beer for their move, as well as thanking the people who put pressure on Boston Beer:
Club Café wants to extend a heartfelt thank you to Boston Beer Company and Sam Adams for its decision to pull back its support of this years South Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade and standing against any organization that practices discrimination. As a result of this we are again proud to serve Sam Adams and Boston Beer Company Products.Bravo to all of you all for taking the time to share your thoughts clearly it did made a difference.