Massachusetts Now Going For Gays Online, Too
You know, since this blog tends to be internationally focused, I haven’t gotten around to lauding the virtues of nearly as many great destinations in the United States as I’d like. Of course, I prefer to not to highlight states that have gone out of their way to discriminate against gay people (now including Florida, California, and Arizona, after the last election) in favor of those that have stood up for our humanity and equal rights.
Not only has Massachusetts done that in spades lately, but it also happens to be a helluva fascinating place to visit, from Provincetown to the Berkshires. So as the travel season warms up this spring and summer, I’ll be sure to be focusing more on that part of the country. But in the meantime, here’s a newsflash on the latest bit of queer-friendliness out of the Bay State (and lordy be, those old Puritans must be spinning in their graves even faster):
Seems the folks trying to lure you over for a visit have set up a new microsite within the official Massachusetts Office of Travel portal, MassVacation.com. Right there on the homepage, under “What’s New” in the right-hand column, there it is: a rainbow-jigsaw map of the state logo (you’ll notice Cape Cod/P-town gets the lavender) with the tagline, “It’s all here for everyone”; you can also parachute into a dedicated URL: LGBTMassVacation.com.
So what’s it got? OK, the nav bar at the top includes:
“Regions,” with a gay-specific focus – they manage to come up with stuff even in the most unlikely areas (let’s hear it for “Lowell, Home of Bette Davis”!).
“Marriage,” setting forth what same-sexers need to do to get hitched (I’ve written a lot of “tropical-paradise” bullshit in my day, including all the gushing about “getting married in paradise,” and boy is it refreshing to see this kind of info directed at my own tribe for once)
“Families,” with material mixing GL-specifics with standard family fare
“My Life,” which covers activities and themes than aren’t gay-specific.
Finally, they cap it all off by letting you enter an online drawing for a three-nighter for two in — where else? — Massachusetts. So you can hold your very own Boston Tea Party (or your beverage of choice, of course).
Definitely does it for me….
Yours truly,
Dave