Catholic League tells faithful: Boycott Guinness, Heineken, Sam Adams

The Catholic League is sending a strong message to three different beer brewery companies that boycotted St. Patrick’s Day parades over gay rights issues: We should boycott you, too.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue, upset at the makers of Guinness, Heineken and Sam Adams who pulled out of Boston and New York annual St. Patrick’s Day parades after organizers refused to let gays have their own special marching section, now says the faithful ought to stop buying those brands, The Blaze reported.

In a written statement, Mr. Donohue said: “No gay person has ever been barred from marching in any St. Patrick’s Day parade, any more than the parade bans pro-life Catholics or vegetarian Catholics. They simply cannot march under their own banner. The parade has one cause: honoring St. Patrick. Those who disagree do not have to march — that’s what diversity is all about.”

Mr. Donohue also accused the gay rights crowd of taking part in a “bullying campaign” to pressure the brewery companies into pulling their sponsorship and participation.

Guinness, after pulling its sponsorship from the New York City parade, received much cheer from GLAAD, the national gay rights group.

GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement: “Guinness sent a strong message to its customers and employees: Discrimination should never be celebrated. As a gay mother 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,” The Blaze reported.

Heineken, meanwhile, pulled away from the same New York parade, saying in a statement that “we believe in equality for all,” CNN Monday reported.

Sam Adams, brewed by Boston Beer Co., set off the trend with its earlier pull from the Boston parade with this widely reported statement: “We were hopeful an agreement could be reached to allow everyone, regardless of orientation, to participate in this parade.”