St. Patrick’s Day parade waffles on gay veterans group

The Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade is reconsidering a decision not to allow a gay veterans group to march. The LGBT group, called OutVets, said the parade council barred them unless they removed the rainbow flag from their banner and jackets. The group refused the council’s request. OutVets has marched in the parade the last two years. Before 2015, parade organizers did not allow gay veterans groups to participate, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in a 1995 ruling. The parade council said in a statement Thursday that the OutVets decision had been misinterpreted, and that it is accepting of all people but “will not permit messages that conflict with the overall theme of the parade.” Regardless, council members said they are meeting today to reconsider the decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.