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.
