Guinness USA has dropped its sponsorship of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York, joining protests of a ban on public expression of gay pride.
“Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all,” the brewer, based in Norwalk, Conn., said on Sunday in a statement.
“We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year’s parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy.”
The parade is expected to proceed as planned along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Monday despite the withdrawals of major sponsors like Guinness, the Dublin brewer known for its stout, and of city leaders, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, over the issue of inclusiveness.
“Today, Guinness sent a strong message to its customers and employees: Discrimination should never be celebrated,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, the president of Glaad (formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).Guinness’s decision was applauded by gay rights groups that had threatened to boycott its products. The Stonewall Inn, widely regarded as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, canceled plans to cease selling Guinness starting on Monday.
With Heineken USA having withdrawn on Friday, Guinness’s decision leaves Ford Motor Company as the parade’s last big sponsor, according to Glaad.
The Boston Beer Company, which makes Samuel Adams, dropped its sponsorship of Boston’s parade.
posted from : http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/nyregion/guinness-withdraws-sponsorship-of-st-patricks-day-parade.html?_r=0
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