Posted on 03/15/2014 8:34:48 AM PDT by raccoonradio
The fight over Southies St. Patricks Day Parade got frosty yesterday, with Boston Beer Co. pulling its longtime sponsorship from the parade over the organizers refusal to let gay veterans march and one Southie bar fighting back with a vow to boycott the brew.
Sam Adams doesnt support South Boston. They dont want to support veterans like my father and uncle, so they can go sell their beer elsewhere, said Tommy Flaherty Jr., a lifelong Southie resident whose father and uncle own the landmark Cornerstone Pub & Restaurant on West Broadway.
Flaherty Jr. said he and his father, Thomas Flaherty Sr., 70, and his uncle John Flaherty, 81, were taken aback when they learned yesterday afternoon from reading bostonherald.com that the brewing behemoth pulled its sponsorship, so they decided not to sell Sam Adams indefinitely.
(Boston Beer Co. has) no problem taking the money from the people drinking at the bars along the parade route, Flaherty Jr. said, adding he has no qualms with gay people. We serve to everybody. I dont have a problem with gay people, nor do my father and uncle.
Boston Beer Co. could not be reached last night for comment on Cornerstones boycott. Representatives of the beer company until yesterday listed as a proud sponsor on the parades website have marched in past years, but announced yesterday morning they will not participate this year because the organizer, Allied Veterans War Council, is refusing to change its longtime policy of banning anyone from marching under a gay-rights banner.
We have been participating in the South Boston St. Patricks Day Parade for nearly a decade, Boston Beer Co. said in a statement. 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.
The flap came after other supporters, including Westin Hotels and Gillette, distanced themselves from the parade. Yesterday, the parades website which had featured dozens of business backers erased its sponsorship page and replaced it with a message saying, Were updating our sponsors, thank you for your patience.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said last night he was still hopeful a deal can be made.
Weve gotten pretty close to an agreement here, and I think a lot of people thought this was the year we were going to have an agreement, Walsh said. Im not giving up on that hope, we still have some time left. ... I have a glimmer of hope that were going to be able to work something out.
As for Boston Beer Co. pulling its sponsorship, the mayor said, They made a policy decision there, and I commend them for it.
No, no, no. This article must be very badly written. Every other post on here has misunderstood it.
A. Veterans are the parade organizers.
B. The parade organizers do not want contentious political issues in the parade; hence, no gay-rights groups are allowed to march. If a veteran or anyone else is gay, they can march -- just not under a banner of supporting gay rights.
C. Sam Adams Beer (Boston Beer Company) pulled its financial sponsorship because the veterans would not allow gay-rights marchers.
D. The bar owner, whose father and uncle are veterans (and presumably are not gay), said they would no longer carry Sam Adams Beer because the Sam Adams brewery is refusing to support a parade organized by veterans.
Plus the euphemisms and innuendo?
Ironic that the beer that was at the forefront of the move to local beers and microbreweries was a bit of a fraud, isn't it? And now they've become trendy politically involved elitists, judging by this boycott.
Indeed like my example of what-if-Westboro-Baptist-wanted-to-march-in-gay-pride-parade. Sure they can as long as they follow the rules of a private organization...no signs, banners, yelling political slogans. No doubt WBC would say they’d refuse to march if those are the rules. WBC wants to spread their message. So does Mass Equality. That’s why the vets have banned them —IF THEY carry banners, signs, etc.—and have every right to do so. Bar objected to Boston Beer Company’s kneejerk reaction.
Hear, hear!
I’m thinking along the same lines. Boston Beer and the Mayor may have done irreparable harm to Sam Adams beer. And at a time when beer consumption is in a slow decline, it couldn’t have been a more stupid time to take such a stand.
Because their perverted sexuality is all they have that makes them special. In most cases if you worked next a to homosexual man or a lesbian you would never know unless they made it their job to tell you incessantly. If your Black, Asian, Hispanic it is pretty obvious, but you have to work at being obviously homosexual. I have a homosexual friend who I have known for over forty years, and everytime we get together he still feels like he has to regale me with stories of his latest sexual escapades. And every time I tell him no thanks and he stops. It’s who they are and like I said it is all that makes them special, so they can’t quit talking about it and shoving it down everyone’s throats , no pun intended.
Good for this bar owner...I have bought Sam Adams in the past...but not anymore. They can shove their sodomy up their collective rears; they'll never, ever see a single penny from me again.
Thanks for the information. I personally think that the parade should be kept non-political if at all possible.
I have no Irish ancestry, but I love corned beef with cabbage and potatoes, so that’s how I observe St. Patrick’s Day. I might even play a bit of Celtic music, though a little of that goes a long way for me.
BTW, the Archbishop of Dublin (C of I Franchise)has appointed a two-priest commission to look into this matter: Fr. Desmond Fitzpatrick and Fr. Patrick Fitzdesmond.
We have been assured they will get to the bottom of it.
Motto of the Gay Pipe and Drum Corps: "Is that a tilt in your kilt, or are yuz jus glad to see me?"
Menino? Silent on this?
See my post #13 correction.
I’m sure they will...but that is not the point. The gay rights crowd is hijacking a St. Patricks Day parade to further their agenda. Anyone who doesn’t support the hijacking is being painted as a bigot. This is classic Leftist agitprop...and the owners and patrons of the Cornerstone and I think many Americans including myself have had enough of this crap. Sam Adams can pull their sponsorship...the parade will go on to celebrate the veterans and St. Patty’s Day. The Leftist agenda can go hijack some other event.
Yep, this only isolates the bar and does nothing to Sam Adams.
See my post #13 correction.
Years ago, maybe in the 70s(?), I did see an "England out of Ireland" float in the parade, but in recent decades, the policy has been no political statements.
Until some time in the 60s or early 70s, the parade wasn't as big a thing, since it was held on March 17, not the nearest Sunday, so attendees were basically school children and Suffolk County (Boston) employees (it's a holiday for public county and city employees.
I’m in agreement (almost said “I’m with you”—ha ha).
Anyway, gay Vets can leave their queerness at home or save
it for later like the heteros do. Just keep your damn
sexuality to yourself in public is the way I see it.
Who cares? Their beer is not good.
And the Irish and everybody else sick and tired of the gay agenda being shoved down their throats.
Good luck with that.
Menino didn't run again (he'll be teaching gov't or something at BU). The current mayor, Marty Walsh, is the one I suspect of being behind this -- at least, according to local news reports, he's been in the forefront of trying to get the gays into the parade (after almost 20 years since the SCOTUS decision). He has announced (as if anyone cared) that he will not march if the gays aren't allowed to. Menino never marched, and no one missed him -- he did march every year, though, in the Gay Pride paraded (though one year, there was one . . . float? exhibit? whatever that was so shocking he was apparently angry, but he didn't know about it until the parade was over.
Menino is no long mayor.
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