Organizers of the NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade announced they will, for the first time, allow a gay-identified group to march under its own banner in 2015—OUT@NBCUniversal, an LGBT support group at the company that broadcasts the parade. Actual gay Irish groups can apply to March in 2016, but whether that means their applications will be accepted wasn’t entirely made clear.
Still, it’s crack in the wall, and one achieved in no small major by corporate sponsors exerting pressure on the parade organizers, who have close ties with the New York archdiocese. As the Washington Post reported:
Guinness’ parent company said, “We are pleased to see that the various parties are making progress on this issue.” It said it was open to talking with the organizers about supporting the 2015 parade.
NBC, whose local affiliate has been televising the parade since the 1990s, would not confirm reports that it had threatened to drop coverage over the issue of gay participation. But it said NBC executive Francis Comerford, a member of the parade committee, helped with the agreement to include OUT@NBCUniversal.
One Comment for “Hell Freezes Over”
posted by Houndentenor on
It was a cynical move if you ask me. NBC is already a sponsor of the parade and aren’t going to criticize the parade organizers over this move. We already saw the kid gloves treatment of Russia by the nbc channels (including msnbc) in the lead up to the Winter Olympics earlier this year. They could easily have picked the IRISH gay group that’s been trying to get into the parade for years, but no. I guess this is progress but it’s such a dick move that it’s hardly cause for celebration. Of course the media will tout this as a win because they are made up of self-important morons.