Philadelphia's annual Mummers Parade was denounced by Mayor-elect Jim Kenney and others on Friday after some participants mocked Caitlyn Jenner, allegedly harassed gays, and painted their faces brown to portray Mexicans.
"F*** the gays!" shouted one member of the Finnegan New Year's Brigade who was captured on video,
Philly.com reported.
The man also held a sign that mocked Bruce Jenner's 1976 appearance on the Wheaties cereal box by placing him on a Froot Loops box alongside Jenner's new female identity, Caitlyn.
Finnegan NYB's formal performance for a panel of judges included a man dressed as Bruce Jenner changing into a woman's outfit while Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady" played in the background.
The Associated Press reported that a local gay man, John Holtz, 28, said he was called gay slurs and assaulted by the group while walking his parents' dog. He did not file charges.
"They start giving me some kind of crap because I'm a big guy and I have this little fluffy dog," Holtz said. When he confronted the group about the alleged slurs, one man "jumped in, clocked me in the face," he said.
In response for a request to comment on the incidents,
Mayor-elect Kenney tweeted, "It was bad. Hurtful to many Philadelphians. Our Trans Citizens do not deserve this type of satire/insult. #Berespectful."
In response to the criticism, Finnegan NYB Captain Michael J. Inemer Sr. said, "I find myself, as do many many members of Finnegan NYB, wholeheartedly apologizing for the abrasive, gross, and disturbing action of one of our members who, unfortunately, took it upon himself to embarrass us all with his conduct."
He said the individual had been banned from the group.
Inemer defended the Caitlyn Jenner performance, saying, "If our skit was so 'out of line' how come the parade judges themselves awarded us with 70 points and 14th place? This whole episode seems to point out that folks need to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously."