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OutVets says South Boston parade organizers vote unanimously to let them back in
By adamg on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 10:40pm
OutVets, which represents LGBTQ veterans, says the board of the Allied War Veterans Council voted 11-0 tonight to let the group march in next week's St. Patrick's parade in South Boston - reversing an earlier vote to boot them - and to let members march in all future parades:
We are honored and humbled by all the outpouring of support that has been displayed for our LGBTQ Veterans - who are one of the most unrepresented demographic in our Veterans community. We look forward to marching proudly on March 19th and honoring the service and sacrifice of those brave men and women who have sacrificed for our country.
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Comments
lol
well, i cant really say i speak for anybody but myself but
fuck off, parade organizers
yeah, i'm pissed too.
For some reason, this snafu pissed me off more than the last time this battle was fought. I don't trust Allied War Veterans Council. Look at the damage they do to Boston and South Boston's reputation over and over again for two decades.
It's time for a better solution. Boston deserves a new St Patrick's Day parade that's not stained with a history of anti-gay bigotry.
Sorry, We've Already Made Other Plans—Try To Do Better Next Year
( that's what I'd tell them if I were a group or sponsor who'd cancelled )
Adorable.
Adorable.
The sponsors and politicians
The sponsors and politicians should boycott the parade permanently, until those clowns make a written commitment to be inclusive.
As Tito Jackson said on Twitter last night, "Human Rights are eternal not voted on annually."
" and to let members march in all future parades:"
Members of ...outvets?
I don't believe these assholes. Not all of them, just the majority who voted no.
Glad to see they came to their senses here.
I am glad this issue is settled. It seemed so odd to me, that the gay pride flag would disallow them to march in the parade. I agree with Mayor Walsh that we should be past this kind of discrimination by now.
Not even that
They don't march with any flags. It's just the banner announcing who they are.
A rainbow stripe on a banner with out vets, in a st Patrick's day parade full of shamrocks and rainbows. It's ubsurd to get your panties in a bunch over something so innocuous.
Good for the people of Boston
Good for the people of Boston for standing up against ignorance and intolerance. There are people out there who hate gay people and voted for someone who mocks POWs and insults gold star families. I'm glad to live somewhere that supports gay veterans and is against hate.
Glad to see that, at least in Boston, the backward can be
dragged forward. Even if they're still bigots in their heart of hearts, I'm grateful they lost this one.
These are veterans, FFS, people who were willing to die to protect you. If you can't respect them simply because of who they're wired to love, as your God presumably made them, there's something profoundly wrong with you.
I'll take any small victory in an age where our national leaders look the other way on intolerance and hatred when they're not actively cultivating it.
Chalk up one for Boston. God help the rest of this benighted country.
The good old days
Years ago at the annual Saint Patrick's day breakfast Governor Weld and Senator Bulger sang a duet titled Whitey on the MTA a song about the senator Bulger's serial killer brother on the lam and not a peep was heard from the media and other politicians.
Congratulations to the OutVets and the veterans who supported their cause. Next year I would like to see a group march in honor of the Saint Patrick's battalion a group of Irish veterans who supported the Mexican people during the unjust war waged by the United States against Mexico.
The Irish vets were hung in the largest mass execution in American history but are honored every year by the people of Mexico. A group marching in honor of these brave men would send a nice message to the no-nothing crowd who blame the Mexican people unjustly for crime and the drug crisis in this country.
Fool me once.......
This parade must be turned over to another group to organize. They have pulled this crap too many times. It embarrasses the entire city, let alone Southie. I am doubtful they will get many sponsors in the future unless their are assurances that bigoted neanderthals will not be in decision making capacity.
The Allied War Veterans Council STILL needs to disband
once this month's parade is over. They are an embarrassment to the city. If they stay around, who knows what stupid mistake they will make next year?
Let the city, or the local VFW and Legion posts, or the local Irish consulate, take over the parade.
yes ron newman
i dont care if they disband, but they need to go crawl under a rock or something. either way, agree with the sentiment for sure
What the Allied War Veterans Council did:
What the Allied War Veterans Council did by originally voting to exclude the OutVets from the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade doesn't sound like a mistake to me. It sounds like they knew exactly what they were doing when they originally voted for the exclusion of the OutVets. It was only under pressure from enough people from the :"outside" so to speak that they switched their vote.
Parade News
I was at the meeting. It was not a meeting of the AWVC. Instead it was a group of veterans from the neighborhood who are tired of seeing our neighborhood maligned and to ensure that all veterans' service is acknowledged and honored.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day and Happy Evacuation Day.
How does that work, exactly?
Members can overule the council? What's needed for a quorum?
Seeing as they cause such a pox on Boston every few years I'm actually kinda interested in who these guys are and the history of the AWVC. The good, bad, and ugly.
Check out "Caught In Southie"
lots of the gorey details are published there.
Veterans for Peace exclusion
All Vets? What about the Veteran's For Peace who served and have been excluded from the Parade for YEARS.
I haven't been
Following this matter-can someone summarauze the issue and resolution. Thanks.
Boston. Replace Pride with QResist
Boston. Replace Pride with QResist
https://www.google.com/search?q=LA+Pride+parade+canceled+protest+march
see also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Shame
Irrelevant
If you, as a LGBTQ person, want to propose changes to Boston's Gay Pride march, you should feel free to do so...elsewhere. That's not the subject at hand.
A day late and a dollar short
I'm sorry, I'm just not in the slightest impressed. If you're going to be a god-damned bigot, at least have the courage of your own convictions to stick to your guns when decent people call you out on it. As it is, these assholes are not only bigots, but cowardly, spineless bigots, who change their public position to suit the moment.
Here's the problem with your statement
You're treating the council as a monolith. In the end, the first vote was not even of a majority of the membership (just those present, 13 out of 25). With the inevitable blowback from the first decision (2 posts left the council because of it and the Grand Marshall resigned, and those are just the internal problems), of course they reconsidered.
Honestly, I had no doubt that OUTVets were going to march. I do have to say that I was amazed that there wasn't even an attempt to save face on this, but whatever. The end result is the important one.
Agreed
I agree with this statement
All this hoopla about OUTVets is nothing more to draw attention to Allied War Veterans Council . They do this every few years just to 'remain relevant' to a degree.
But I agree with the other sentiments that "it's a little too late" and that I think the city should re-evaluate this groups permit for the parade. The parade causes so many other issues (outside of this one), such as public drinking/urination/defecating/etc, rowdiness, litter etc etc.. that it would be easy yank the permit.
Please as Uhubbers, we see the city pull liquor licenses for less. It wouldn't be a stretch.
It's time to have the city take over the parade or let some other group run the damn thing. This group just gives Southie and Boston as a whole such a bad rap.
Showing up is 90% of life
Based on your post, the faction that opposed letting gays march made sure to be at the meeting about who gets to march. Others, having other things to do and not realizing this issue would be brought up, were not there. Then, the blowback, everyone shows at the next meeting and then it's OVAH!
Unfortunately, however,
Many, if not most politicians, etc. tend to do that.
As for being a coward and refusing to stick to one's guns even when people call somebody out on it, this really does depend on the situation. The fact that some of the AWVC members who'd originally voted against letting the OutVets march in this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade changed their minds, even if it was under pressure, is a good thing. One doesn't have to like the group as a whole, to realize that.
When G. H. Bush ran as Ronald Reagan's running mate during the 1980 and the 1984 POTUS elections, he'd been pro-choice before, but became anti-choice when it became politically inconvenient for them.