This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

This was a dispute over the inclusion of GLIB in the St. Patty's day parade in Boston. The Council who managed the paraded denied GLIB permission to march. GLIB then obtained a state court order that allowed it to include its contingent which participated in the march uneventfully. In 1993, the same commotion ensued, and the Council again refused GLIB participation. They sued alleging violations of the State and Federal Constitutions and of the state public accommodations law, which prohibits 'any distinction, discrimination or restriction on account of . . . sexual orientation . . . relative to the admission of any person to, or treatment in any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement.' The state trial court ruled that the parade fell within the statutory definition of a public accommodation. The court found that the Council had no written criteria and employed no particular procedures for admission. The court rejected the Council's contention that the parade was 'private.' The court found it 'impossible to discern any specific expressive purpose entitling the Parade to protection under the First Amendment.' The court held the parade to be an open recreational event that is subject to the public accommodations law.' It ordered GLIB included. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed. The defendants had failed at the trial level 'to demonstrate that the parade truly was an exercise of . . . First Amendment rights.' The court disagreed that the statute was overbroad or even vague. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

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