U.S. | Fri Mar 10, 2017 | 5:35pm EST

Boston St. Patrick's parade to allow gay veterans to return

By Scott Malone | BOSTON

A group of gay veterans of the U.S. military can march in this year's Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade, parade organizers said on Friday after an earlier move to exclude them sparked outrage and boycott threats in the liberal city.

The parade, one of the United States' largest honoring Irish-American heritage, had long excluded openly gay participants, saying that admitting them would conflict with organizers' Roman Catholic beliefs. In 2015 organizers agreed to allow the gay veterans' group, OUTVETS, to march in the face of pressure from city officials and sponsors who pulled their financing.

The decades-long fight over inclusion in the celebration of the patron saint of Ireland was rekindled this week when OUTVETS said that organizers of the 116-year-old parade told them they would not be invited back to the March 19 event.

Parade organizers said the group's participation had conflicted with the event's Roman Catholic heritage and caused some church groups to pull out of the march. But following what local media said was an emergency meeting of the Allied War Council, which runs the parade, the group said OUTVETS would be allowed to march this year.

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