The chief marshal of South Boston’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade said Monday that he would resume his ceremonial leadership role, after threatening to sit out the event in protest of organizers’ short-lived move to exclude a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender veterans group.
Dan Magoon, who is executive director of Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, said he saw the controvery last week that led to the eventual invitation of OUTVETS as evidence that the Allied War Veterans Council urgently needs to change the way it handles the parade.
“We have the right veterans that are now really stepping up to the plate, and they see the damage that can occur if we don’t,’’ said Magoon, a former Army paratrooper who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He concluded his service in 2007.
“This was an international incident,’’ he added. “We need to take that message moving forward that we can’t sustain what we have by operating the way that this group has been operating.’’
He said he would use his role as chief marshal, which brings with it a permanent seat on the council, to push for a more transparent and inclusive approach.
Magoon said the initial vote to leave OUTVETS out was in part a product of supportive members who were not aware of the vote or did not participate — largely because many thought the issue had been resolved.
OUTVETS had marched for the past two years after years of controvery over the issue.
After a 9-to-4 vote to exlude the group Tuesday, the veterans council voted again on Friday to offer OUTVETS a permanent slot in the parade. This time the vote was 11 to 0.
Magoon said many of those who opposed OUTVETS inclusion did not vote the second time.
For Magoon, who grew up in South Boston and whose organization has done much of its work in the neighborhood, the opportunity to serve as chief marshal was a major honor. He said he had no qualms about stepping aside to support OUTVETS, however.
“It was definitely a blow to watch what unraveled. I couldn’t stand on the sidelines, and I had to voice my opinion,’’ he said. “As much as it was a rough week, there are a lot of positives that come out of it, and one of those positives is going to be the new direction that we’re moving into.’’
He said he and other members of the council realize that they play a unique role in representing the neighborhood.
This year’s parade begins at 1 p.m. March 19. Magoon said he and other organizers are still working to get participants back in the fold after the controversy, but many leaders and organizations who had threatened to skip the parade are now planning to come.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, and elected officials from South Boston such as US Representative Stephen Lynch and state Representative Nick Collins have said they now planned to march.
Even as parade organizers moved past the controvery on Monday, another organization said that it still had not gotten permission to march in the parade. The group, Veterans for Peace, called on the council to allow it entry.
“Veterans who have seen and experienced the horrors of war firsthand, who have defended this country, and who now work for peace and peaceful resolution of conflict are being disrespected, and shamefully denied,’’ the group said in a news release.
Magoon confirmed that the group was not marching, but he said he did not have details about why.
Organizers had rejected the group in prior years, arguing that the parade is a celebration of the military and they are a protest group, but this year, Pat Scanlon, special events coordinator for Veterans for Peace, said the group never got a response to its application.
He said the organization still hopes to march.
“The only conclusion you can come to is the fact that they don’t like that we stand for peace,’’ Scanlon said.
Andy Rosen can be reached at andrew.rosen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @andyrosen.
