queer person and lifelong mass resident here. a few thoughts:
some people will make comments to you that are offensive. most of the time they're trying to be funny and may not be educated enough on trans issues to know they're being genuinely hurtful. people in massachusetts speak in "go fuck yourself," and sometimes that involves punching down. don't take it as anything more than banter and throw it back in their face.
there will always be transphobes, anywhere. massachusetts is safer than most other places for lgbt people, but don't get your hopes up that absolutely everybody in the state will be lovely to you all the time. generally speaking we keep to ourselves and don't care, but not always. it's easier to be queer in mass than anywhere else, but it will still be difficult at times. a lot of the comments here are about how wonderfully queer-friendly this state is - which is true! - but it's still good to approach it with at least some caution.
as for legislation...you can relax on that front. even state republicans tend to be much more progressive than their counterparts anywhere else in the country.
you will see republicans. you will see qanon nutjobs. you will see a discouraging number of thin blue line flags. there's lunatics anywhere. personally i think that the conservative lunatics tend to be loud with the pro-trump imagery in massachusetts to "own the libs", which gives the illusion that there are more right wingers than there actually are. there might be some people who swing more conservative than their neighbors, but the actual conspiracy theory lunatics tend to be clustered into little pockets. there are much less of those people here than there would be in somewhere like texas.
boston is expensive. you might look at the northampton area. iirc there are a good amount of queer bars and basement bands in the worcester area.
the sad fact as a trans person is that nowhere is 100% safe, 100% accepting, or 100% free. but! massachusetts is much safer, much more accepting, and much freer on queer issues than the rest of the country. there's transphobic assholes just about anywhere, but you should not get discouraged by it if you move to massachusetts. here, at least, they don't speak for the rest of the state. it can be easy to get discouraged, but there are many things up here to love. and while you'll have to both work fairly hard for housing - shit's expensive up here - you can be happy and comfortable.
good luck to both of you!! if you have questions, reach out i'll do my best to answer them. ❤️❤️
ayendae1125 t1_jdm6k1w wrote
Reply to Transgender couple considering moving to Boston by pinkrosxen
queer person and lifelong mass resident here. a few thoughts:
some people will make comments to you that are offensive. most of the time they're trying to be funny and may not be educated enough on trans issues to know they're being genuinely hurtful. people in massachusetts speak in "go fuck yourself," and sometimes that involves punching down. don't take it as anything more than banter and throw it back in their face.
there will always be transphobes, anywhere. massachusetts is safer than most other places for lgbt people, but don't get your hopes up that absolutely everybody in the state will be lovely to you all the time. generally speaking we keep to ourselves and don't care, but not always. it's easier to be queer in mass than anywhere else, but it will still be difficult at times. a lot of the comments here are about how wonderfully queer-friendly this state is - which is true! - but it's still good to approach it with at least some caution.
as for legislation...you can relax on that front. even state republicans tend to be much more progressive than their counterparts anywhere else in the country.
you will see republicans. you will see qanon nutjobs. you will see a discouraging number of thin blue line flags. there's lunatics anywhere. personally i think that the conservative lunatics tend to be loud with the pro-trump imagery in massachusetts to "own the libs", which gives the illusion that there are more right wingers than there actually are. there might be some people who swing more conservative than their neighbors, but the actual conspiracy theory lunatics tend to be clustered into little pockets. there are much less of those people here than there would be in somewhere like texas.
boston is expensive. you might look at the northampton area. iirc there are a good amount of queer bars and basement bands in the worcester area.
the sad fact as a trans person is that nowhere is 100% safe, 100% accepting, or 100% free. but! massachusetts is much safer, much more accepting, and much freer on queer issues than the rest of the country. there's transphobic assholes just about anywhere, but you should not get discouraged by it if you move to massachusetts. here, at least, they don't speak for the rest of the state. it can be easy to get discouraged, but there are many things up here to love. and while you'll have to both work fairly hard for housing - shit's expensive up here - you can be happy and comfortable. good luck to both of you!! if you have questions, reach out i'll do my best to answer them. ❤️❤️