A Great Day for All Bostonians

Saturday’s Boston Pride Parade, in which mayors from across the nation and  coast-to-coast joined with our Mayor, Marty Walsh, in showing their support for the Rainbow Resistance, was a manifestation of the depth of support for the LGBTQ community throughout the United States.

This show of strength is needed more than ever because it is evident that the hard-earned and long-sought rights of the LGBTQ community are under attack in Washington, where President Donald Trump has committed himself to appointing judges who will do what they can to roll back the rights that only within the past few years have become accepted as part of our political and social landscapes.

The sad, but terrible reality is that just one vote — one more Trump appointee — on the U.S. Supreme Court could bring us back to the medieval days before the Stonewall riots that took place almost 50 years ago (just as could happen to Roe v. Wade, which also is almost 50 years old).

This is why it is important that local governments show their strong support for the LGBTQ community, because regardless of what happens in Washington, the day-to-day protection of rights for all Americans rests largely in our cities and towns. If all politics is local, so too is respect for every individual in our society. 

As long as our mayors and local officials hold true to the essential principles on which this country was founded — that all persons are created equal and entitled to the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness — the effects of what happens in Washington can be minimized and mitigated.

We congratulate Mayor Walsh for being willing to stand front and center on this issue. We trust that all Bostonians will join with members of our LGBTQ community in supporting the goals of the Rainbow Resistance each and every day.