Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is not
participating in South Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade.
Organizers behind Sunday's parade –
the nation's second largest behind New York – continue to exclude
gay groups from marching.
“So much of our Irish history has
been shaped by the fight against oppression,” Walsh, the city's
first Irish-American mayor in 20 years, said in a statement.
A deal brokered by Walsh which would
have allowed MassEquality, the state's largest LGBT rights advocate,
to march in the parade fell apart last week.
“As mayor of the city of Boston, I
have to do my best to ensure that all Bostonians are free to
participate in the civic life of our city. Unfortunately, this year,
the parties were not able to come to an understanding that would have
made that possible.”
Walsh's decision comes after Sam
Adams pulled its sponsorship of the parade.
(Related: Heineken
pulls support from St. Pat's Day parade over gay exclusion.)