New Orleans’ Carnival Groups Told to Integrate

A new anti-discrimination proposal would give the groups that put on New Orleans’ gaudy Carnival parades two years to prove that skin color or gender is no bar to membership.

The revised ordinance by Councilwoman Dorothy Mae Taylor also would give private clubs two years to integrate or lose their liquor licenses. The City Council may act on the measure at its Dec. 19 meeting.

Members of some of the biggest and oldest parade clubs, or krewes, had said privately that their groups would move to the suburbs or not participate if parade permits depended on rules set by the city.