UPDATE: From Boston Beer Company Director of Public Relations, Sam Adams will NOT participate in the parade:
We have participated in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade and St. Patrick’s Day breakfast because of the rich history of the events, and to support veterans who have done so much for our country. We were hopeful an agreement could be reached to allow everyone, regardless of orientation, to participate in this parade. However, given the current status of the negotiations, this may not be possible. We stand with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch, and other community leaders in our decision not to participate in this year’s parade, but will continue our strong support of the Boston community as well as Senator Linda Dorcena Forry and her St. Patrick’s Day breakfast. We wish her all the best in her historic stewardship of this tradition.
South End eatery Club Cafe announced that it will cease serving Sam Adams beer because of the local brewery’s sponsorship of South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Allied War Veterans Council, organizers of the parade, have declined to let the LGBT community march on its own terms in the traditional procession through Southie.
Taking to Facebook to vocalize their cause, Club Cafe owner Frank Ribaudo and general manager Jim Morgrage wrote the following note:
Last October marked the 30th anniversary of Club Cafe. On that same day, Ribaudo married his longtime partner and combined the jubilations.
The South End of Boston has for some time acted as a congregation of LGBT culture so it’s no surprise that restauranteurs and non-discriminatory folk are lashing out against the parade, its organizers and its sponsors.
Their Facebook announcement was also met with tremendous support in the comments section. Regular customers, whimsical patrons and righteous LGBT advocates all noted the good Club Cafe was doing in order to make their point.
Ryan Ruggiero of CNBC reported that the Boston Beer Co., the holding company of Sam Adams, released the following statement in response:
As a local business, supporting our Boston community is very important to us. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is just one of the hundreds of events and organizations we support in and around Boston. We provide charitable donations to organizations in South Boston and around the city that address critical needs including supporting the arts, the environment, building communities, veterans initiatives, youth leadership development and addressing educational disparities, just to name a few. We also provide support for a number of organizations whose primary focus is supporting civil rights, the LGBT community, marriage equality, and the Boston Pride Parade.
We have deep roots in Boston and will continue to support local charities here and across the commonwealth, especially those charities that our employees and drinkers find meaningful and impactful. That being said, our namesake, Samuel Adams, was a staunch defender of free speech and we support that ideal, so we take feedback very seriously. The majority of our commitments are year-to-year, and we will continue to evaluate each organization and event before making additional contributions.
BostInno reached out directly to Boston Beer Company to see if they’d be willing to comment further but nobody was immediately available to comment.
