by Lynette Alice

Created on: May 08, 2008   Last Updated: May 09, 2011

The gay community is Boston is thriving and with good reason, it is after all the largest city in the only state that legally allows gay marriages. Beyond that, Boston is a great city for everyone, not just the gay community. What is it that makes Boston so attractive to the gay community and so rich in gay culture and society?

Aside from legal gay marriages, which granted are a huge issue that draws people to this wonderful mecca, is the diversity of activities and people the city claims. Being gay is just like being straight aside from the matter of sexual attraction. Many gay people love the Sox, and and Celtics, although the jury is out on love for the Bruins until they shape up! We love museums, good educational and employment opportunities, cuisine, and history. Boston has it all.

More specifically though Boston is liberal in it's view and treatment of the entire LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and has been known as such for some time. Boston offers some very special services such as, but not limited to, the Fenway Clinic which offers sliding scale to free care for members of the LGBT community within their ability to do so. This involves the routine (Until you've been waiting on results) things such as HIV screening, to the specialized gender clinic to serve the trandgendered community. This service alone draws people from as far away as New York. Legal protection in regards to equal housing, employment, discrimination, and harassment are iron clad and battle tested proving they are among not only the nations best, but best enforced as well.

Politically Boston is a hotbed of activity for the gay community primarily made up of five organizations: The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, The Log Cabin Republicans, The equal rights lobby, The Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance of Massachusetts, and The Bay State Gay and Lesbian Democrats. These are all active well represented groups carrying the banner for LGBT equality. The Lesbian Gay Political Alliance alone has a mailing lit of over fifteen thousand people. While many argue the menagerie of organizations fragments the gay community as relating to political endorsements and power, it is still good to know that there is so much activity to insure that the rights of the LGBT community are being monitored and fought for.

Socially the Boston gay scene is thriving and high quality. Whether you like big clubs, small cafes, sports bars, or something in between Boston has it.

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