The prohibition on identified gay groups in the centuries-old New York parade had made participation a
political issue. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to march this year, and Guinness beer dropped
its sponsorship.

The parade committee, in a statement made available to The Associated Press, said on Wednesday that
OUT@NBCUniversal, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender support group at the company that broadcasts
the parade, would be marching up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on March 17 under an identifying banner.

It’s unclear how the group was chosen: whether OUT@NBCUniversal, which is described on its website as
"the affinity group for LGBT & Straight Ally employees at NBCUniversal," was invited
by the organizers or applied. Parade directors voted unanimously to include the group, the statement
said.

Other gay groups can apply to march in future years, spokesman Bill O’Reilly said.

In the past, organizers said gays were free to march but only with other groups and not with banners
identifying them as gay. Most marching units in the parade carry identifying banners. There are about
320 units in next year’s parade, the committee said.

The committee said its "change of tone and expanded inclusiveness is a gesture of goodwill to the
LGBT community in our continuing effort to keep the parade above politics."

The statement said the parade was "remaining loyal to church teachings," and O’Reilly said
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is to be the parade’s grand marshal next year, was "very
supportive" of the change.

Dolan said last year he supported the participation of gay people.

"I know that there are thousands and thousands of gay people marching in this parade," he said.
"And I’m glad they are."

Police Commissioner William Bratton marched last year with a contingent of uniformed officers. Gay
activists held a news conference before the march to say officers should not participate in uniform.

Uniformed city workers, marching bands with bagpipes, traditional Irish dancers and politicians are
traditional participants at the parade, which began in 1762 and can draw hundreds of thousands of
participants and spectators.

The committee’s statement welcoming OUT@NBCUniversal said, "Organizers have diligently worked to
keep politics — of any kind — out of the parade in order to preserve it as a single and unified cultural
event. Paradoxically, that ended up politicizing the parade."