Ya, pretty much. His attempt was a mistake in the first place, I think he would lose more than he would gain. And as far as saving face, ya, you're probably right, but I'm not going to blame the guy for it. He lucked out at being given (or creating) a chance to back out from his mistake.
“Ya, pretty much. His attempt was a mistake in the first place”
I agree completely, his attempt was a mistake. The gay activists had absolutely nothing to lose by saying “sure, you can march in our parade,” since there was never even the slightest chance that Bill Donohue was ever, in a million years, going to march in a gay pride parade. It was an obvious bluff by Donohue, so why wouldn’t they call it?