Boston and New York City annually have St. Patrick’s Day parades, which are enjoyed by many; however, both of these parades still ban marchers from carrying pro-LGBT signs in the parade.

Members of the LGBT community can march, but are limited as to what they can display. In 2014, the fact that this community cannot openly express itself shows the injustice of our society today.

Both the mayors of Boston and New York, Martin Walsh and Bill de Blasio, did not participate in the parades, citing the bans as the reason. Walsh decided not to participate after talks that would have allowed a pro-gay group to march in the parade broke down. De Blasio is the first New York Mayor in decades not to participate in the parade because the organizers refused to let participants carry pro-gay signs.

Guinness dropped its sponsorship of the parade in New York City because of the rule. Heineken also dropped sponsorship in NYC, and Samuel Adams did the same in Boston.

We commend these mayors and companies for not participating in these parades in support of equality. By doing so, they show how unjust this rule is.

Parade organizers have a year to plan next year’s event, and we hope that within that time, they reevaluate parade policies.

Parades are community events that are supposed to be enjoyed by all, and excluding certain groups detracts from the fun of the event.

Hopefully such antiquated rules will no longer exist in 2015.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.