Submitted by Icy-Egg-7755 t3_yqnnil in boston
Considering moving to Boston for work and wondering about a good place for my kids that’s queer friendly. I figure Cambridge is pretty friendly, but it’s also too expensive. What about Wakefield? Malden/Medford? Quincy? Braintree? Dedham? I’d really appreciate any local knowledge or suggestions. Also would appreciate if there’s any places to avoid. Thanks!
Is this a question from 1992?
I’m coming from an area of the country that’s stuck in the 80s, so I’m unused to these newfangled ways like treating people with respect. Glad to hear Boston is okay!
It’s funny how must people understand that Boston area in general is very friendly to people of all walks of life. Content of character over all else. But, if you listen to national sports media, then you’d think Boston is the most bigoted place in America.
We have plenty of hate, its just not directed toward sexual orientation or gender assignment.
We prefer to hate on more definitive qualities like how you drive, how slow you walk on the sidewalk and where you get you preferred slice and cup of coffee. You know, stuff that actually defines your character.
As we should lol
Alternatively it is equally unfriendly to everyone too :P
Agreed but the unfriendly nature isn’t do to any bigotry. It’s the brutal honesty of ppl from the area who don’t tolerate games and bullsh*t. We have no problem telling someone if they are just an asshole. Lol
[removed]
I would say Malden /Medford are more so than Quincy/Braintree but I could be wrong. I grew up in Boston and know a bunch of families who moved to the south shore, or the Irish Riviera as it’s often called, and they all vote red.
Quincy is completely LGBTQ+ friendly. We hate everyone equally!
Having been in Malden about 5 years now, and lived south shore much of my life before then, I definitely think Malden is more diverse. That might not have a ton of carryover to being more comfortable here if you're LGBTQ but you might feel more comfortable that you're in a pool of all different kinds of people.
I'm biased though, I really like it here lol
Oh Malden is awesome. And admittedly idk what constitutes making a place more comfortable for the lgbtq community as I am a straight male, but I just know all the ppl on my social media that were posting Q grooming propaganda were from Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth and Holbrook
Oh they're up here too but when I'm at my boyfriends house in Braintree they're at least way more vocal with that bullshit. Ridiculous
You could look at the town's voting history to find the friendliest places.
Welcome, fellow queer. Greater Boston is, in general, super gay-friendly, but I'd recommend Malden, Arlington, Medford, and Somerville over any of the south shore suburbs. I lived in Quincy for a bit, and the vibe wasn't exactly hostile, but I almost never saw pride flags or visibly queer folks out and about and there was a fair bit of Q-aligned graffiti.
I'm trans and generally pass, but I was always a little nervous if I went out dressed at all GNC in Quincy. I never got harassed, but I never felt entirely comfortable in my own skin.
I'm up in Camberville (Cambridge + Somerville) now and it's a lot more comfortable to play around with gender expression. Quite a few queer-owned businesses in the area, too!
Thank you! That’s so helpful!
Glad to help! Like I said, you'd probably be fine anywhere in Massachusetts -- homophobia obviously exists, but it's not enshrined in law and it's not a prevalent attitude.
Boston unfortunately doesn't really have a true gayborhood, but Jamaica Plain is a hotbed of married lesbians with kids. Somerville and Cambridge are super queer friendly (and actually legally recognize polyamorous marriage, to give you a sense of the level of general/structural support for 'alternative' family arrangements). Unfortunately, a lot of those places are fairly expensive (b/c they're on the big transit lines), but I also know a couple gay couples w/ kids in Hyde Park, which is still part of Boston but less connected to the rest of the city by transit.
Salem has a huge and very established LGBTQ population and the community is an integral part of local culture.
Newton MA
All of the ones you mentioned would be pretty LGBT+ friendly. When you get into the cities/towns that are more... I don't want to say "rural", but just where the houses are more spread out, it gets a little less LGBT-friendly and you'll start to see some Trump signs in the lawns (Wilmington, Reading, etc). Wakefield would kind of be just on the cusp of that, but still not bad. If you want to go super queer-friendly I'd say Somerville, Medford, and Salem fit that category.
Honestly pretty much all of them are. Roslindale isn't a suburb but is a pretty residential area of the city and has a pretty strong LGBT+ presence.
I guess it depends on a lot of factors. What's the age of the kids?
Not all the letters are the same in LGBTQIA.
Lesbian cis gender daughter? Northampton. Tour Smith and Mt Holyoke, you might see NoHo resident Rachel Maddow. Our new governor is a lesbian.
Gay male? Boston has BAGLY for kids. PFLAG for parents. Provincetown when they get old enough to enjoy it.
Harvard and Somerville Sq have a lot of trans activism. I don't know if this is still true, but a few years back Jamaica Plain was like the most trans area regionally.
Kids just like to be kids. They'll find friends in school. Roxbury can be pretty hostile to young gay kids. But Dorchester is a bit more gentrified than it used to be. There's a weird gay oasis there (Near DBAR) in the middle an urban hellscape.
Uh, Northampton is not a suburb of Boston.
Maybe it's close to Somerville Sq.
What? They all are its mass
One of the great things about Massachusetts is that nearly every town has a Unitarian and/or Congregational church, often at or near the town common, with a rainbow flag or sticker and other indications of being welcoming.
But that didn’t tell you about the schools. I don’t know whether it’s possible to get a record of which high schools had groups marching in the pride parade (back before the parade organization fell apart). Maybe BAGLY or PFLAG can help you find the most supportive schools.
Compared to most of the the rest of the country, anywhere east of Worcester should be pretty great.
It’s really not a thing that anyone I knows seems to care about.
Also in Worcester, and west of Worcester.
I moved more west a couple years ago. There are a LOT more trumpies out here. Not saying it’s bad, just not as good. You’re 100% gonna have a couple run-ins out this way.
I agree with the suggestion to look at the voting history. You probably want somewhere that's at least 65-70%+ for Warren, Markey.
A lot of us have been moving to Malden!
Thanks for asking about moving to Boston. Based on the information given, we suggest that you move to the Seaport. Please check the sidebar for visitor information. Also, please check out past moving to Boston posts to see if this question or something similar has been asked on /r/boston in the past. Also, please enjoy this wonderful video
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
I'd throw Dorcherster in the mix. Savin Hill, Jones Hill, and Ashmont all have pretty robust LGBT+ populations.
[removed]
Natick
[deleted]
RhaenyrasUncle t1_ivp90fs wrote
All of them.