February 19, 1993
A Superior Court judge ruled that a gay group has the right to march in South Boston’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, concluding that it came within the state civil rights law’s definition of a “public accommodation.” The organizers appealed to the US Supreme Court, which overturned the decision in 1995. Justice David H. Souter said in his opinion for the Court that a parade was a form of expression with which the government may not interfere, even for the “enlightened” purpose of preventing discrimination. “One important manifestation of the principle of free speech is that one who chooses to speak may also decide what not to say,” he said. It was not until the 2015 parade that the sponsors relented and allowed two LGBT groups to march.
