Major Beer Brands Dropping Out of St. Patrick’s Day Parade

If you aren’t wearing green today, you deserved to get pinched. That’s right, today is St. Patrick’s Day. But those who attend the annual St. Patty’s Day parades in Boston and New York City will notice floats missing from several of the nation’s largest beer companies, including Sam Adams, Guinness and Heineken.

It’s no secret that beer and St, Patrick’s Day go together like peas in a pod. It may not rank as high as New Year’s Eve or July 4th, but it’s still one of the top 10 days of the year in terms of U.S. beer sales and consumption. As a result, news of the three major beer brands decision to withdraw from the St. Patrick’s Day parade has left many people wondering why.

So, what caused Sam Adams, Guinness and Heineken to pull out of the parade? According to statements made by the companies, they were all unhappy with the way organizers were treating the LGBT community. The St. Patrick’s Day parades are known for their stern stance on prohibiting parade marchers from displaying their sexual orientation of clothes, signs and banners.

After sponsoring Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day for more than a decade, Sam Adams pulled out just days before this year’s parade, saying they were helpful an agreement could be reached that would allow everyone to participate in the parade, regardless of sexual orientation, but were forced to pull out as a result of the “current state of negotiations.

Following Sam Adam’s decision to pull out from the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Heineken soon followed, citing the same reason. However, the real shocker came when Guinness, who has long supported the St. Patrick’s Day parades, also announced their decision to pull out at the last minute.

A spokesperson for GLAAD said the following in an email to The Huffington Post:

“Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all. 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 As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation.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.”

Do you feel like the Guinness, Heineken and Samuel Adams made the right choice by dropping out of the parade? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!