Arizona redux: Businesses flex pro-gay muscle. Yesterday afternoon Guinness, the last remaining brewer sponsor, joined Heineken and Sam Adams in withdrawing sponsorship of the New York / Boston St. Patrick's Day parades over the organizers' homophobia. Guinness faced pressure from lgbt groups and gay bars that threatened to boycott the Irish brand. Mayors of both cities also refused to march.
On Facebook, Colm Toibin wrote, "As a gay Irish man, and an Irish writer, living in New York, I believe the Parade as it is now constituted is a way of excluding me from celebrating my Irish heritage, and is a way of undermining the progress made both in Ireland and in the United States towards treating all people with dignity."
Guinness parent company Diageo released a statement saying, "Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all. We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year's parade. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy."
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