BOSTON – Boston kicked off Pride Month by raising a rainbow flag outside City Hall Monday morning. “Happy pride everyone,” said Mayor Michelle Wu.
The city also installed its first proud crosswalk at Clarendon and Tremont Streets in the South End, and when the sun sets, City Hall is now lit in rainbow colors.
Massachusetts is at number 28
But a new study shows that the colors of Massachusetts don’t shine as brightly as we might have thought. Safehome.org ranks the Bay State as number 28 in the country when it comes to the safety of the LGBTQ+ community.
“States like Colorado, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey had even more pro-equality laws than Massachusetts,” said Corie Wagner, Senior Editor of Industry Research at SafeHome.org.
Rhode Island and New Hampshire are the safest
The group’s research found that Rhode Island and New Hampshire are the safest places at numbers one and two. In fact, all New England states are safer than Massachusetts when it comes to protecting people from crimes related to gender identity and sexual orientation.
Colleen Finn from Brighton says she knows what it feels like. “It was a long time ago, but it really scared me. I had to deal with street harassment and death threats, so it sticks with you when you go through that,” she said.
The latest data from the FBI shows that Massachusetts recorded 111 LGBTQ+ hate crimes in 2022. Last weekend someone in Carlisle stole the rainbow flags of a special display of pride.
“Law enforcement officers and officers in Massachusetts may have received more training than officers in other states to identify when a hate crime is occurring,” Wagner said. She said SafeHome.org hopes the research will raise awareness and ultimately lead to better protections across the country.
