Letter from Michelle Wu

Dear Friends,

It is my honor to usher in Pride Month with our LGBTQ+ communities here in Boston and across New England.

In Boston, we've been celebrating our revolutionary roots as we mark 250 years since lighting the lanterns that sparked our country's struggle for freedom. But that struggle didn't end when the Declaration of Independence was signed. For two-and-a-half centuries, we've continued to tug at freedom's edges—unwilling to rest until "liberty and justice for all" are a reality for all our communities.

Pride is a call to continue that fight: To celebrate the beauty, resilience, and vibrancy of our queer, trans, and nonbinary families, friends, and neighbors—and to reaffirm our resolve to make every space safe, fun, and affirming for the LGBTQ+ community.

That call has grown louder over the past several months. Today, there is a concerted effort to roll back the rights and freedoms that generations of LGBTQ+ leaders dedicated their lives to securing. Here in Boston, we refuse to lose ground in the fight for equality. We will never waver from our vision to build a city for everyone.

From creating the City's first Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement and helping establish New England's first LGBTQ+ senior housing community, to providing small business support for Boston's newest lesbian bar and updating our marriage licenses to be gender-inclusive, we are finding every possible way to make Boston a prouder, more joyful place for our LGBTQ+ community.

And that joy has been on full display all year long: Earlier this year we welcomed the Big Queer Food Fest to Boston along with the North American Cup, a biennial LGBTQ+ rugby tournament. This month, we raised the Pride flag on City Hall Plaza, are taking to the streets with the Boston Dyke March, and will kick off a series of events for Black Pride that will last through the first week of July.

However you choose to celebrate Pride this year, know that the City of Boston stands with you and all of our queer, trans, and nonbinary communities.

In solidarity,
Michelle Wu
Mayor of Boston