NEW YORK — Organizers of New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade have agreed to allow a gay contingent to march under its own banner for the first time, making an exception for a group of employees from NBC, the network televising the event.
The prohibition on identified gay groups in the world’s largest and centuries-old New York parade had made participation a political issue. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to march this year, and Guinness beer dropped its sponsorship.
The private New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Committee said in a statement Wednesday that OUT@NBCUniversal, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender resource group at the company, would be marching up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on March 17 under an identifying banner.
“We welcome the parade committee’s decision to accept OUT@NBCUniversal’s application to march and enthusiastically embrace the gesture of inclusion,” said Craig Robinson, executive vice president and chief diversity officer at NBCUniversal.
