Gay groups denied request to march in St. Patrick's Day parade

Gay groups denied request to march in St. Patrick's Day paradeText
Size: A | A | A
Print this Article Email this Article ShareThisBy STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
March 15, 2012 4:42 PM
Popular Today
New Bedford police officer charged with OUI, leaving the scene resigns
from departmentPolice arrest suspects in purse theftsRichard J.
AvilaRecord-shattering nightOlive Garden review becomes Internet
sensationWoo in zoo? It's complicatedLocal medical facilities protect
against drug-resistant bug BOSTON — Gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people will not be marching in the annual South Boston St.
Patrick's Day parade on Sunday after two groups received rejection
letters from organizers.

MassEquality, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights
of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents, applied to march
in the parade organized by the Allied War Veterans Council.

The veterans group said no, citing the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case
Hurley vs. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Group of Boston,
which ruled parade organizers do have a legal right to decide who
marches in the parade.

Join the Impact, another gay, lesbian and transgender group in Boston,
was also denied permission to walk in the parade this year. The
Irish-American group marched in the parade in 1992 after obtaining a
court order, but no gay or lesbian organization has walked since the
Supreme Court ruling, according to Kara Suffredini, executive director
of MassEquality.

Suffredini said her organization has bigger concerns than marching in
the parade, but added it was "emblematic of more life-altering
rejection that LGBT people face in Massachusetts every day."

Suffredini said there is nothing the group can do to fight for the
ability to march. Changing attitudes is the bigger task, she said.

"I think this is the work we do every day of changing hearts and
minds," Suffredini said. "There will be a day when we will be welcomed
in this parade."

More:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120315/NEWS/120319906/-1/NEWS01

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.