A dozen gay veterans are pushing back against organizers of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston. They are disputing a charge that MassEquality lied on its parade application and did not have a group of veterans who wanted to march.
MassEquality has sent group has sent a letter to the parade organizers, the Allied War Veterans Council. MassEquality Executive Director Kara Coredini said that the council unfairly demanded a list of marchers from the group. Something no other group was required to do, she said.
"We put the application together with the intention that many of the folks on the letter today and many additional folks would march," she said. "Unfortunately, what the parade organizers are saying in response is that we needed to be able to name every single person who was going to march before they'd accept the application. And of course that's a silly rule (…) Nobody else has to list every single marcher before their application can be accepted."
Coredini added that MassEquality only learned through media reports that the Allied War Veterans Council said the gay veterans would be allowed to march - but under the condition that they not wear t-shirts or hold signs that included the word "gay" or other references to sexual orientation.
"That's status quo. That is the case with the parade to this day - that LGBT people can march, as long as they hide who they are," she said.
