Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Group of Boston
United States Supreme Court
515 U.S. 557 (1995)
The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council (Council), authorized by the mayor to organize an annual parade, repeatedly refused to let the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Group of Boston (GLIB) (plaintiff) march as its own unit; GLIB got a state court order overturning the first refusal and marched without incident, but after being refused again in 1993, GLIB sued John Hurley, the Council, and the city (defendants) under a Massachusetts public-accommodations law barring sexual-orientation discrimination. The trial court ordered the Council to include GLIB, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed.
Whether a state public-accommodations law may require a private parade organizer to include a group marching under its own banner, whose message the organizer does not wish to convey as part of the parade.