In that year, the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston (GLIB) requested that it be allowed to march in the parade alongside the usual participating groups.
The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council was the only group to apply for a parade permit until 1992. Following 1947's events, Mayor James Michael Curley gave authority for organizing the celebratory parade to the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, a group of unincorporated private citizens selected from a variety of Boston veterans' groups. Patrick's Day and Evacuation Day, which marks the departure of British troops from the city in 1776, on or about March 17. Addressing the specific issues of the case, the Court found that private citizens organizing a public demonstration may not be compelled by the state to include groups who impart a message the organizers do not want to be presented by their demonstration, even if the intent of the state was to prevent discrimination.įrom 1901 until 1947, the city of Boston, Massachusetts, sponsored public celebrations of St. The Court ruled that private organizations, even if they were planning on and had permits for a public demonstration, were permitted to exclude groups if those groups presented a message contrary to the one the organizing group wanted to convey.
#GAY PRIDE BOSTON 2015 FREE#
557 (1995), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court regarding free speech rights, specifically the rights of groups to determine what message their activities convey to the public. Irish American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, 515 U.S. Private citizens organizing a public demonstration may not be compelled by the state to include groups who impart a message the organizers do not want to be included in their demonstrationĬhief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices John P.