The organizers of Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade have scheduled an emergency meeting for Friday to reconsider their vote to bar a gay veterans group from participating. The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, which organizes the parade, and representatives of OutVets met Wednesday, said Ed Flynn, a council member who voted to allow the gay veterans' group to march. In a statement on its website Friday, the veterans council insisted it had not officially banned OutVets from the parade. The parade has long been embroiled in legal controversy, including a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing members of the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council to exclude gay groups on free speech grounds. "As a result of the organizer's decision, our South Boston store will no longer sponsor the parade."

Source: ABC News March 09, 2017 12:31 UTC