Guinness Withdraws Support From St. Patrick's Day Parade Over LGBT Ban

Guinness beer announced during the weekend it is withdrawing from New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade in protest of the LGBT ban.

The parade bans LGBT people from openly participating. Executives from Guinness, the popular Ireland-based beer, withdrew funding for the parade after its organizers said they would not overturn the ban, Fox News reported.

"Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all," the company said in a statement posted on the website for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD). "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As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation.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."

Guinness is not the only beer manufacturer to pull support from the St. Patrick's Day parade, one of the city's largest celebrations of Irish culture. Boston-based Sam Adams announced on Friday it was withdrawing sponsorship from the parade in Boston. Sam Adams made the announcement after a local bar said it would stop serving the beer because of its association with the parade, according to The Washington Times.

Organizers of the parade said gay people can march as long as they do not openly identify themselves as such, brandish signs that announce their sexual orientation or any political message, the Associated Press reported.

But gay rights supporters say that is discrimination. GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis praised Guinness for taking a stand against the parade's policy.

"Today, Guinness sent a strong message to its customers and employees: discrimination should never be celebrated," Ellis said in a statement on the organization's website. "As a gay mom who has fond memories of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, it saddens me that I can't give those same memories to my own kids because my family isn't welcome."