But many, including the soldiers' defense lawyer, Founding Father John Adams, believed the soldiers acted in self-defense. The story of the five colonists shot dead by British soldiers was spun to rally support against the British. A circle marks the spot of the 1770 Boston Massacre but, as historians are quick to point out, the incident may have been an early example of fake news. One of its most visited historical sites is directly in front of the old Massachusetts Statehouse ( ). If you are going by car, it's about a two-hour drive in good traffic.īoston has been called the "Cradle of Liberty" and on just about every downtown street, you can find landmarks commemorating early U.S. You can easily make a day trip to Provincetown from Boston on the Bay State Cruise Company's Fast Ferry ( ) that takes only 90 minutes each way from downtown Boston. The Pilgrims landed there before Plymouth Rock and Ptown is gearing up to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims' visit next year.
This time of year, many visitors to Boston also check out Provincetown, the town on the tip of Cape Cod ranked as one of the gayest towns per capita in the world. According to local media, 750,000 turned out this year and the city got into the spirit early with rainbow flags displayed prominently throughout the city including a huge rainbow flag draped over the upper floors of the landmark John Hancock Building. She was a former speech instructor at Emerson College who had participated in a televised debate in support of gay marriage in 1974, 30 years before she would see that dream become a reality in Massachusetts.īoston's first gay Pride parade was held in 1971 and was attended by about 300 people. The city elected out lesbian Elaine Noble in 1975 as a state representative, making her the first openly gay person elected to any state legislature. She also became the first woman in Massachusetts to get a driver's license.Ī wider gay visibility began in Boston long before same-sex marriages were legal.
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One of the more prominent women in a Boston Marriage at that time was Eleanora Sears, who was the great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson and a professional tennis player. The statue can be seen in front of the front lawn of the Massachusetts Statehouse.īy the early 1900s, the term "Boston Marriages" was coined as an expression used all over the country to describe a cohabitating lesbian couple.
Her girlfriend, Emma Stebbins, did the sculpture. One of the most prominent entertainers in 19th century Boston was lesbian actor Charlotte Cushman, who used her wealth to commission a sculpture of education pioneer Horace Mann. The Shawmut Indians, who called the area home centuries before the Europeans arrived, respected and honored the difference that LGBTs brought to their community structure. The early celebration of Pride was congruent with the city's history of firsts in LGBT history, most notably as host to the nation's first same-sex marriages in 2004 when Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex nuptials.īut Boston's gay tolerance can be traced back before it was even a city. While San Francisco celebrates Pride this weekend, Boston's celebration was Saturday, June 8, with a parade starting in Copley Square, through the gay-popular South End, before ending up at Boston City Hall.