The Supreme Court should never have had to consider the legality of barring gay and lesbian people of Irish ancestry from Boston’s St. Patrick Day Parade. It is sad that parade organizers found it necessary to make complete fools of themselves by advertising their prejudices.

Although the Court correctly ruled that the event is private and therefore the veteran’s group that organizes the parade has the right to choose who can participate, the case should never have reached the Court. The fact that the group’s actions were legal does not make them any less reprehensible.

Organizers are apparently acting out their outmoded, paranoid prejudices in order to bar homosexuals from participating. Members of the gay and lesbian organization that challenged the veteran’s group have as much right to celebrate their Irish ancestry as other participants, and by barring them, organizers are saying that all Irish are not

created equal.