Guinness, Heineken, Sam Adams pull sponsorship of St. Patrick Day parades over gay propaganda ban
BOSTON, MA, March 17, 2014 – The Catholicity of Monday’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities is causing some politicians and businesses to reconsider their celebration of the famed Irish saint.
Today is one of the most important feast days for English-speaking Catholics worldwide. In North America, March 17 has tended to constitute for many a cheery pause in the soberer season of Lent.
However, two cities that have had a long tradition of marking the day with parades are feeling pressure from the gay-lobby. New York has had a St. Patrick’s Day parade since 1762 and Boston since 1737.
“Both cities have huge Irish populations—combined, I would guess more than in Ireland itself. One could even argue that the modern State of Ireland owes its existence to the Irish in New York and Boston,” said Irish historian, Peter Murphy, in an interview with LifeSiteNews.
But three beer companies, as well as some politicians, seem to want to redefine that culture. On Friday, the Boston Beer company, which makes Sam Adams beer, announced that it was pulling out as a sponsor of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. At the same time, Heineken withdrew from New York City’s.
These announcements were followed-up on Sunday by Guinness announcement that it would no longer be sponsoring the New York parade.
Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, in turn today called for a boycott of the three beer companies.
“None of these companies believe in diversity. No gay person has ever been barred from marching in any St. Patrick’s Day parade, any more than the parade bans pro-life Catholics or vegetarian Catholics; they simply cannot march under their own banner. The parade has one cause: honoring St. Patrick. Those who disagree do not have to march—that’s what diversity is all about.”
“The parade is quintessentially Catholic, beginning with a Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is this Catholic element that angers those who are engaged in a bullying campaign against the St. Patrick’s Day parades. The bullies also have nothing but contempt for the constitutional rights of Irish Catholics.”
Donohue noted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995, in a 9-0 decision, that parade organizers are free to determine their own rules under the First Amendment. “It is this liberty that the makers of Guinness, Heineken, and Sam Adams want to squash,” according to Donohue.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch seems to agree with Mr. Donahue, tweeting earlier today that he hoped all Irish would boycott Guinness in turn: “Where will this end? Guinness pulls out of religious parade bullied by gay orgs who try to take it over.”
Former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomburg, criticized current Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to boycott the parade, saying it is a failure to show his support for the city’s Irish community.
Several other politicians in those cities were also sitting out the parade, including New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. In Boston, Congressman Lynch and Mayor Walsh are among those who were not in attendance.
The link between the parade, Irish history and Catholicism is on the minds of those critical of the actions of the beer companies.
This kind of pressure is nothing new to the Irish. “The fact that innumerable people the world over—and not just those of Irish descent or those within the various spheres of Irish influence—are at least cognizant that there is a ‘St. Patrick's Day’ can only be understood as reflecting an instance of a culture surviving historical oppression,” said Mr. Murphy.
Murphy went on to say, “St. Patrick's Day, apart from being a religious holiday—which it is for at least some of us Irish people—is a celebration not so much of Ireland but of the Irish. English-speaking Catholicism owes its existence to the Irish. . . . So, if you are Catholic and speak English—justice demands that you celebrate ‘the Day’.”
Since the 1850s, the parade in New York has been associated with the Ancient Hibernian Order, an organization originally founded to protect Catholics, and Irish immigrants especially, from the anti-Catholicism rampant in the 19th Century.
The order is still active protecting Irish heritage in the U.S.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, steered a middle course on the controversy,stating, “I know that there are thousands and thousands of gay people marching in this parade. I know it. And I'm glad they are.”
Dolan said that he was not a part of the parade’s planning, but he said he supports the participation of individual gays. The cardinal refused to comment on the mayor's boycott, said ABC News.
Donahue, however, said, “I have had my last Guinness and Sam Adams. Heineken was always slop, so there is no sacrifice there. I urge Catholics, and all those who believe in tolerance, diversity, and the First Amendment, to join with me in boycotting these brews.”
To contact Guinness, email: press.office@diageo.com
To contact Heineken, email: pressoffice@heineken.com
To contact Sam Adams, email: jessica.paar@bostonbeer.com
