Uganda’s sexual minorities face escalating human rights violations, with over 1000 cases recorded in the last nine months involving arrests, torture and house evictions among others, according to a report by an advocacy group.
Members of Uganda’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community have faced increasing rights violations since early last year when Uganda’s parliament started considering an anti-homosexuality law.
The legislation, called the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was eventually enacted in May last year.
Under the law among other tough penalties same-sex intercourse is punishable by life in prison, while so-called aggravated homosexuality may lead to a death sentence.
In a report marking one year since AHA was passed, the Convening for Equality (CFE), a sexual minorities advocacy group, said at least 1,253 human rights violation were recorded between September and May.
That represents an increase from 306 violations that were recorded between January and August last year.
Violations were committed by both state and non-state actors and included torture, family rejections, physical assaults, evictions, arbitrary arrests, sexual assaults and extortion.
“Known and/or perceived LGBTQ+ persons were arrested, tortured, beaten, exposed, including evictions and banishment, blackmail, loss of employment, and health service disruptions,” the report said.
“This was sustained by frequent fake and false news shared on different platforms and a sustained campaign to paint LGBTQ+ persons … as persons who are out there to recruit children into homosexuality.”
A Reuters call to a police spokesperson for comment went unanswered.
AHA drew widespread condemnation from the West and has triggered sanctions against Uganda and individual leaders.
The World Bank halted all new lending while the U.S. ejected Uganda from a preferential trade deal and has also imposed sanctions against unnamed individuals for violating rights of minorities.
In an April ruling on a case challenging the law, Uganda’s constitutional court refused to annul the law although it voided a few sections that it said violated rights to health and property.
At the bottom of the first page of the program for Spelman College’s Baccalaureate Service held on May 18, 2024, at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, a southwest suburb of Atlanta, is the last sentence in baccalaureate speaker Bishop Yvette A. Flunder’s bio, and perhaps for some the most jarring. It reads: “Bishop Flunder is a proud mother and grandmother and recently celebrated 40 years of commitment and marriage to her partner in ministry and life—Ms. Shirley A. Miller, a renowned Gospel music artist.” It is not unusual for queer people to exist in conservative Black religious spaces, whether parishioners or clergy. However, it is rare to encounter a faith leader like Flunder who has repeatedly chosen to tell the truth about her sexual orientation when, at the bare minimum, Black church politics can often demand adherence to a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy.’
A San Francisco native and third-generation preacher, Flunder is ordained in the United Church of Christ and the Metropolitan Community Church. Flunder founded the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in 1991 and is also the Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a multi-denominational fellowship of 110 primarily African American Christian leaders and laity representing 56 churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the United States, Mexico, and Africa.
“You have to understand that when I come, I bring my whole self,” Flunder said as she settled into her seat across from me in the large conference room inside the Convention Center following her baccalaureate address.
Bishop Yvette A. Flunder enters the Georgia International Convention Center for Spelman College’s Baccalaureate Service on May 18, 2024. (Image: Darian Aaron)
The selection of Flunder by Spelman College to preach during a religious ceremony traditionally held the day before commencement, for some, is a radical choice in conservative Historically Black College and University (HBCU) culture. Spelman has a organized presence of queer students on campus including its LGBTQIA organization Afrekete! and various sexual orientations and gender identities were represented in the 2024 graduating class. But Spelman’s invitation to Flunder is not just a reflection of Spelman campus diversity, it is also about elevating the experience of LGBTQ students at Spelman and other HBCUs. Flunder spoke directly to the queer Spelman woman who will face the triple discrimination of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
“Embrace yourself—your understanding of your importance and the fact that you were born with this incredible gift that only a percentage of people in the world have is itself, in my thinking, a gift,” Flunder told me. “This community is overrepresented with gifts and skills— music, art, food, decoration—the ones who dress the pastor’s wife and beautify the churches,” she added.
A renowned gospel singer as well, Flunder provides lead vocals on Walter Hawkins and the Family and the Love Center Choir’s 1990 classic, “Thank You.” She sang with the Spelman College Glee Club before delivering her baccalaureate address. Flunder tells GLAAD that Gospel music wouldn’t exist without LGBTQ people.
Bishop Yvette A. Flunder sings Walter Hawkins classic “Thank You” with Spelman College Glee Club during Baccalaureate Service. (Image: Screenshot via YouTube)
“Half of the tenors, a quarter of the altos—Gospel music wouldn’t exist—absolutely would not exist without the contributions [of LGBTQ people],” she said. “And I think that it begins with our thanking God, thanking our understanding of the divine to have been chosen because not everybody can handle this.”
A home for ourselves
Flunder is clear that God has appointed and anointed her to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And while the Black church still wrestles internally with sexism, misogyny, patriarchy, and homophobia, other religious denominations have formally embraced LGBTQ members and clergy within its community. The United Methodist Church recently voted to repeal its decades-long ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings. Flunder, who co-created the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries 22 years ago, tells GLAAD the same is possible for the Black church.
“We have to have the courage to create something of our own,” she said. “One of the first things we did was create a home for ourselves. We all went to seminary and theological school, so we would know what we’re talking about.”
In the early years, Flunder also tells GLAAD that the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries simultaneously connected to affirming organizations, like the United Church of Christ. However, they were predominantly heterosexual, and the worship experience was far from her Pentecostal roots.
“I thank the Lord for them, but they clap on the one and the three, and I clap on the two and the four, and I just can’t,” Flunder said jokingly. “And I like good gospel music that sounds like jazz but with church lyrics.”
Using a more serious tone, Flunder discusses why she encourages people to attend affirming churches.
“Spend some time around theological education. It’s too many books out there now that are written by people who are either gay-affirming or gay,” she said.
“Nobody has an excuse now not to read and understand what is in the text. Just like the Bible says, ’slaves obey your masters.’ You don’t bit more believe that than the man on the moon. And the Black preacher who told you you’re going to hell for being gay, well, you’re going to hell ’cause you’re not a slave. Because the Bible says, ’slaves obey your masters.’ How come you can leapfrog over that? But you can condemn me? How is that conceivably possible? Obviously, some things have to do with a certain time and culture. They shift and change. Take the girdle off the Bible,” she said. “You don’t take everything literally. Just the stuff that you want.”
Some so-called Christians may believe that by elevating the perceived “sins” or shortcomings of others, in this case, LGBTQ people, their sins will be overlooked. It’s a harmful practice rooted in toxic theology that encourages bondage instead of freedom through Christ—a pill prescribed to Flunder that was too bitter for her to swallow.
“When they realized that I was gay in the church, one of the missionaries came to me, she said, ‘Now baby, we see you. We know who you are.’ She said, ‘You just need to get you a little husband,’” Flunder recalls. “She’s trying to tell me if I’m going to move [up] in the church, I need to find a pliable, reasonably obedient man. Not only do I not want to do that to myself. I don’t want to do that to him. I don’t want to pick a man and say, all I need you for is window dressing,” she said. “I’m in love with my partner. The air she breathes. And that’s the truth. You don’t stay with somebody for 40 years if you don’t mean it. That’s the kind of love I want. I don’t want to play house or church. And I told her, hell no, I’m not doing that.”
Bishop Yvette A. Flunder pictured with her wife of 40 years, Mother Shirley A. Miller. (Image: Instagram)
Mother [Shirley A. Miller], often travels with Flunder but did not accompany her to Atlanta for Spelman’s baccalaureate service due to mobility issues.
“We are the othered ones, but the spirit has called the othered ones,” Flunder told the graduates towards the end of her baccalaureate address. “Change the direction of religion. It’s not supposed to be a private social club. It’s time for the disinherited, the demeaned, the excluded, the diminished to stand up, speak up, and move up to the table—it’s time.”
In April, Dominica became the latest country to decriminalize consensual same-sex conduct. A local court ruled that provisions banning “buggery” and “serious indecency,” understood to criminalize gay sex, were unconstitutional. The ruling is historic for Dominica because it finally cast off a colonial legal relic that had been an obstacle to full equality for sexual and gender minorities. But beyond this Eastern Caribbean nation, the ruling has important implications.
The Dominica ruling adds to a growing body of jurisprudence from the “Global South” that challenges the notion that decriminalization of same-sex conduct is “foreign,” “Western,” or “against national values.” This idea, sometimes used by authorities in the 64 countries that still make such relations a criminal offense, often ignores the demands of many local activists and stakeholders. It is also often used to scapegoat sexual and gender minorities. But today such rhetoric flies in the face of well-reasoned, human rights-based decriminalization rulings arising from Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Asia and Oceania that firmly establish that the decriminalization of same-sex conduct is a universal human rights imperative.
Some of the very early cases on decriminalization were indeed from the “Global North.” The European Court of Human Rights ordered the decriminalization of same-sex intimacy in cases arising from the United Kingdom (1981), Ireland (1988), and Cyprus (1993). The United Nations Human Rights Committee ordered the same for Australia (1994). Yet, the bulk of national-level jurisprudence decriminalizing same-sex conduct has come from countries outside of these regions.
In Latin America, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador’s Case No. 111-97 TC (1997) was an early example of national jurisprudence ordering the decriminalization of same-sex conduct. There, the court found that “homosexuals are, above all, holders of all the rights of the human person and therefore have the right to exercise them in conditions of full equality.” In recent years, five other Caribbean nations have decriminalized in landmark rulings: Belize (2016), Trinidad and Tobago(2018), Antigua and Barbuda (2022), Saint Kitts and Nevis (2022), and Barbados (2023).
The case of National Coalition for Gay & Lesbian Equality & Others v. Ministry of Justice & Others(1998) in South Africa was the first to decriminalize same-sex relations on the African continent. A concurring opinion in the case affirmed that the case occurs “in the context of evolving human rights concepts throughout the world” and “should be seen as part of a growing acceptance of difference in an increasingly open and pluralistic South Africa.” Recent decisions in Botswana (2019) and Mauritius(2023) further solidified this trend.
Meanwhile, courts in Asia and Oceania, including Fiji (2005), Nepal (2007), Hong Kong (2007), and India (2018), have also affirmed that the criminalization of same-sex conduct violates fundamental human rights. In the Indian ruling, which came after a protracted legal fight, justices held that the “role of the Courts gains more importance when the rights which are affected belong to a class of persons or a minority group who have been deprived of even their basic rights since time immemorial.”
The contributions made by courts in these varied parts of the world confirm that the continued criminalization of gay sex is not a niche issue that is the domain of “the West.” The rulings are context-specific and highlight how criminalization infringes upon the rights of sexual and gender minorities and their communities, including the rights to non-discrimination, life and security, family, housing, health, work, and education, and freedoms of expression and assembly. While rulings are multifaceted, these diverse courts have generally found that criminalization is draconian and erodes the rule of law for everyone.
There have been some legal setbacks, such as Uganda’s Constitutional Court upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act in April and the dismissal of a constitutional challenge to “buggery” and “gross indecency” laws in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in February. But rulings upholding criminalization remain outliers, in part because of the strength and diversity of the decriminalization rulings. Findings such as that of the Uganda Constitutional Court, that legislators “know the sentiments of the people that they represent on the subject,” now appear painfully biased and myopic.
While courts play a crucial role, governments should not punt their legislative duties to the judiciary, especially since court cases can take years to litigate. Many governments around the world have passed legislation to decriminalize same-sex conduct, either explicitly to protect sexual minorities, or indirectly by implementing broader criminal law reforms. This has led to real progress. But what the rulings in a wide variety of countries make clear is that arguments about decriminalization being “Western imposed” are disingenuous and shield authorities from having to address substantive underlying human rights issues.
Instead of presenting straw-man arguments, authorities should stop using such rhetoric, heed the findings of courts around the word, and urgently recognize that the decriminalization of same-sex intimacy is essential for the equal advancement of human rights.
Despite years of progress toward inclusion and equality for LGBTQ+ Americans, a sense of safety at home remains elusive for many. By the end of last year, 75 of the 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced across the country in 2023 had become law, and in 2022, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ Americans reached a five-year high.
With hate crimes rising and more anti-LGBTQ+ bills under consideration, it’s essential to monitor the state of safety across the nation regularly. That’s why we’ve created this ranking for the third year. To grade all 50 states and Washington D.C. based on how safe they are for LGBTQ+ people, SafeHome.org’s new scoring system includes both legislative analysis and hate crime data from the FBI. Here are a few of the key takeaways from our study:
Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Delaware all received A+ grades for LGBTQ+ safety based on their comprehensive pro-equality laws and low rates of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people.
South Dakota, Florida, and Wyoming were the worst states for LGBTQ+ safety in the nation, earning F grades due to their high number of discriminatory laws and hate crime reporting rates. Florida’s ranking changed dramatically since last year when it had the 15th-lowest safety score.
Nearly 50% of states passed new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023.
Hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people rose 10 percent between 2021 and 2022, and hate crimes against transgender people, in particular, surged 40 percent.
59% of LGBTQ+ people say their state’s laws help them feel safer, but 89% say federal action is needed to enshrine protections fully.
LGBTQ+ Safety Grades by State
SafeHome.org’s state ranking is unique from others. We based our grading system on the opinions of 1,000 American LGBTQ+ individuals. Based on their insights, we calculated how heavily different laws would weigh upon each state’s safety score: parenting freedoms, criminal justice rights, non-discrimination rights, youth protections, and health laws. Then, using information from the Human Rights Campaign, we tallied how many laws each state had in the above categories and weighted them based on their perceived impact on LGBTQ+ Americans.
This year, SafeHome.org researchers added a new factor to the safety “report card”: we determined the frequency of hate crimes committed against LGBTQ people in each state according to the latest FBI data.
https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/18042878/embed
Based on this new grading method, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Delaware ranked highest for LGBTQ+ safety according to our methodology, while South Dakota, Florida, and Wyoming scored lowest.
The Safest States for LGBTQ+ Americans
1. Rhode Island – Safety Grade: A+ (100)
Rhode Island had the highest safety grade in the nation due to its numerous laws protecting LGBTQ+ rights and its low incidence of hate crimes. It was notably one of only six states where every law enforcement agency reported crime data, and one of seven states that earned an A+, A, or A- in our safety analysis. The Ocean State has some of the most comprehensive laws in the country regarding LGBTQ+ health, safety, and family planning, including:
Foster care non-discrimination laws, which protect LGBTQ+ people wishing to participate in the foster care system as parents
Mandatory reporting of hate crime statistics
Anti-bullying youth laws, with explicit protections for LGBTQ+ youth
Laws that include transgender healthcare in state Medicaid programs
Rhode Island is home to the 12th-highest percentage of same-sex couples and was among the first 15 states to legalize gay marriage, which it did in 2013. Notably, in March 2024, the U.S. Senate appointed Rhode Island’s first openly LGTBQ+ judge to the federal court system.
2. New Hampshire – Safety Grade A+ (98.3)
New Hampshire boasts a wide variety of equality protections in its state laws and has one of the country’s lowest rates of reported hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals. New Hampshire scored a bit lower than Rhode Island partly because its laws do not explicitly protect people from discrimination on credit applications based on sexual orientation, and the state does not have a law requiring mandatory reporting of hate crime statistics.
Lawmakers in New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage in 2010, making it the sixth state in the country to do so. In 2023, New Hampshire passed a bill that explicitly outlawed the use of someone’s sexual identity as a defense in a homicide case. Since 2013, 18 other states have adopted similar resolutions.
3. Delaware – Safety Grade A+ (98.1)
Delaware was one of the earliest states to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013, with the sixth-highest number of same-sex couples (per 1,000 households). The “First State” offers a comprehensive set of LGBTQ-friendly legal protections, including:
Laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity surrounding the use of surrogate mothers
Laws that protect people from conversion therapy
Bans on insurance exclusions for transgender healthcare
These protections, along with Delaware’s extremely low incidence of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people, make it one of the safest states in 2024.
4. Alaska – Safety Grade A (93.5)
Alaskans elected their state’s first three openly LGBTQ+ legislators in 2022. Although they did not all campaign on LGBTQ+ issues, their presence aligns with their state’s general direction, as indicated by this year’s rankings. All three of these new legislators are sponsors of a bill currently under consideration that would add protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
While Alaska does not have quite as many legal protections for its LGBTQ+ residents as the states ranking above it and has a law that allows for transgender exclusion in sports, it does provide a relatively equal and safe environment. Alaska is also home to the country’s third-highest percentage of same-sex couples who are raising a child.
5. Hawaii – Safety Grade A (92.5)
Hawaii rounds out the top five safest states for LGBTQ+ Americans, thanks to its strong legal protections and low rates of reported hate crimes. Hawaii has a long legacy of being relatively LGBTQ+-friendly; in 1973, it became the sixth state to legalize same-sex sexual activity, and in 1993, it became the first state to formally consider legalizing same-sex marriage.
Hawaii’s LGBTQ+ legal protections include the presumption of a parental relationship for both parents with regard to any children born of that marriage and LGBTQ+ inclusive juvenile justice policies. It is also one of the 26 states that allow name and gender marker updates on both driver’s licenses and birth certificates and one of 19 states that have eliminated the “bias rage or panic defense for criminal acts,” a tactic used to achieve lighter sentencing when an assailant is motivated to violence by learning the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Worst States for LGBTQ+ Safety
1. South Dakota – Safety Grade F (46.8)
South Dakota has the unfortunate distinction of having the lowest LGBTQ+ safety grade out of all the states. Its legal landscape is more prone to anti-equality than pro-equality, and has a relatively high rate of reported hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people. The few protections South Dakota offers to LGBTQ+ folks include non-discrimination laws regarding admission to colleges and universities, anti-cyberbullying protections, and laws prohibiting discrimination in surrogate parenting.
Anti-equality laws on South Dakota’s books far outweigh their equality-protecting counterparts. The list of such laws includes:
HIV and AIDS criminalization laws
Laws permitting discrimination in adoption and foster placement
Laws restricting transgender people from using gendered facilities in public schools
Bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth
Likely due to its unsafe atmosphere, the state is home to the second-fewest same-sex couples per capita, ranking in front of only its neighbor, North Dakota. In our previous ranking, South Dakota took the 45th spot on the list of safest states.
Despite the challenging circumstances, LGBTQ+ advocates are making progress in South Dakota. In early 2024, a transgender advocacy group successfully sued the state of South Dakota for discrimination, receiving a $300,000 reward and forcing the state’s governor to issue an apology letter.
2. Florida – Safety Grade F (47.5)
In the second-worst spot for LGBTQ+ safety comes Florida, which has one of the worst legal environments and ranked dead last in participation rates for law enforcement agency crime reporting. Last year, Florida was the 15th worst state in our ranking, but newer and harsher legislation contributed to its plummeting safety score.
In recent years, Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law has received significant media attention, with much scrutiny surrounding its attempts to prevent students and teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity. A settlement reached in early 2024 clarified some of the specifics around the law that was passed in 2022 and remains in place today.
Additional anti-equality legislation on Florida’s books includes sodomy laws and laws that allow or require intentional misgendering of public school students. In 2023, Governor Ron Desantis signed a bill into law that limited drag shows in the state, which a Florida federal judge later blocked.
3. Wyoming – Safety Grade F (53.5)
Wyoming has few pro-equality laws on its books, a relatively high rate of reported hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people, and an overall low rate of crime reporting. All of these factors contribute to its low grade for LGBTQ+ safety, which is significantly worse this year. Last year, Wyoming was the 19th-worst state in the country.
The state has only a few pro-equality laws or policies, such as those guaranteeing equal opportunity in adoption and foster care—but this only applies to sexual orientation and not gender identity. Wyoming also has transgender exclusions in its state Medicaid coverage. Overall, while Wyoming does not have as many anti-equality laws as some of the other states toward the bottom of the safety ranking, its dearth of pro-equality laws contributes to its laggard position.
4. Ohio – Safety Grade F (53.7)
Having passed a bill in 2023 modeled after Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, drawing condemnation from civil rights groups, it might not be surprising to see Ohio toward the bottom of the LGBTQ+ safety ranking.
The state has one of the highest rates of reported hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals in the nation. Like Wyoming, Ohio has very few pro-equality laws on its books, though not so many anti-equality rules. However, the state’s laws include transgender exclusions in Medicaid coverage as well as HIV/AIDS criminalization laws. Since these types of laws regarding healthcare access were among the most important to LGBTQ+ people we surveyed, Ohio’s safety score was deficient.
5. Alabama – Safety Grade F (55.8)
At the fifth-worst spot for LGBTQ+ safety is Alabama, whose especially poor legal environment caused its dismal ranking. In 2024, Alabama considered expanding its own “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits teacher-led discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools, but proposals to widen the scope to older students ultimately did not pass.
Other anti-equality laws on Alabama’s books include:
Bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth
Religious exemptions for professional training or practice
Laws permitting discrimination in adoption or foster placement
Are More Legal Changes for LGBTQ+ Americans on the Horizon?
So far in 2024, in addition to Florida’s affirmation of its “Don’t Say Gay” policy, a handful of states have restricted or affirmed limitations on listing one’s sex on driver’s licenses using a non-gendered category like “X” rather than “F” or “M.” Gender-affirming care for minors has also been under legislative scrutiny in several states. As of the end of April 2024, however, 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills had passed at the state level, which would put the pace of enacting such bills below last year’s.
Looking ahead to November’s election, polling from progressive think tank Data for Progress indicates LGBTQ+ Americans prefer Joe Biden and the Democrats over the Republicans and their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. When he was in office from 2016-2020, Trump ushered in several changes considered to be attacks against LGBTQ+ rights, including rescinding the protection of transgender students, permitting discrimination against LGBTQ+ couples related to adoption, and banning trans military members from actively serving. He reportedly said he would ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the United States recognizes “only two genders.”
Everyone deserves to feel safe at home, and laws can help ensure personal security for all members of our communities. Substantial progress has been made across the grand arc of history for LGBTQ+ Americans, but as our rankings indicate, there is still far from a consensus view across the United States as to key questions and decisions related to equality under the law. For those who have a choice of where to live, these rankings offer a reference point for finding the safest location.
What is the LGBTQ+ State Safety Ranking?: Our Methodology
The Safety Ranking is based on a composite safety score comprising a law score and a hate crime score.
A “law score” was calculated based on pro- and anti-equality laws in each state. The Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2023 State Equality Index State Scorecards show a breakdown of each U.S. state’s pro and anti-equality legislation. We surveyed one thousand people who identified themselves as LGBTQ+ to determine how to weigh each of the legislative categories—parenting laws, hate crimes & criminal justice laws, non-discrimination laws, religious refusal & relationship recognition, youth laws, and health & safety laws. We calculated their law scores by adding up the legislation in each state and weighing them according to our survey. This survey was conducted in 2023.
Though we based the scores on more detailed questions in each category, we asked LGBTQ+ Americans generally about laws that promote equality and ones that damage it:
Which type of laws promoting equality are most important for your safety?
Percent of respondents
Non-Discrimination laws that forbid discrimination in employment, housing, etc.
49%
Health & Safety laws that uphold the rights of LGBTQ+ people to receive healthcare, insurance, etc
22%
Youth Laws that protect LGBTQ children through anti-bullying measures, bans on conversion therapy, and sex education
13%
Criminal Justice laws that require mandatory reporting of hate crimes, eliminate bias rage or panic defense for criminal acts, prevent police profiling
10%
Parenting laws that legally recognize same-sex marriage and parenthood in various scenarios
3%
Which type of anti-equality laws are most damaging to your safety?
Percent of respondents
Health & Safety laws allowing discrimination in healthcare
40%
Youth laws that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ youth
21%
Criminal Justice laws that criminalize HIV/AIDS nondisclosure, consensual sexual activity, etc)
17%
Limits on Non-Discrimination laws
14%
Parenting laws limiting the ability of LGBTQ+ people in adoption, fostering, etc
3%
Religious Refusal laws that permit the denial of services or employment to LGBTQ+ people based on religious belief
3%
A “hate crime score” was also calculated based on an analysis of the incidence of hate crimes against any group falling within the LGBTQ+ umbrella. The 2022 FBI Uniform Crime Report’s Hate Crime Statistics Collection was used to count the number of relevant incidents in each state and divide them based on whether they happened in a rural or urban area. Note that the reported incidence of hate crimes versus the actual incidence rate may vary by relevant agency and, therefore, may not be a perfect representation of the actual hate crime landscape. Not every law enforcement agency in each state reported hate crime incidents to the FBI, which also factored into each state’s score.
We then calculated the number of rural incidents per 100k rural population and the number of urban incidents per 100k urban population. We then weighed those incident rates based on the percentage of the state’s populations that lived in rural and urban areas (e.g., urban incidents will be weighted higher in states with a higher proportion of their population living in urban areas), as well as the percentage of law enforcement agencies reporting data to the FBI in each state.
The hate crime score was normalized to the same scale as the law score, then multiplied by the percent of agencies in the state that contributed data to the FBI, penalizing states with low participation. The final LGBTQ+ safety score for each state is the average of these law and hate crime scores, and we assigned letter grades on a logarithmic scale to facilitate understanding of how well each state scored.
The United Kingdom’s government just issued an emergency order to temporarily ban and criminalize the usage of puberty blockers for transgender minors, independent journalist Erin Reed reports.
This criminalization is unprecedented and has not been seen in any other country. It could lead to prison sentences of up to two years, Jo Maugham of the Good Law Project told Reed.
Notice of the policy was sent out on Wednesday, when the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care announced restrictions on puberty blockers as an emergency order from Conservative Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Victoria Atkins.
The restrictions on puberty blockers include a grandfather clause for minors who are currently prescribed them by U.K.-based medical providers. However, this will effectively end transitional care for many. Due to the notoriously long waitlists from the National Health Service, the majority of those transitioning are doing so through private care via GenderGP, a private practice based in Singapore, Reed reported.
The emergency order bans the following medications: buserelin, gonadorelin, goserelin, leuprorelin acetate, nafarelin or triptorelin. The ban applies to England, Scotland, and Wales. It does not apply to Northern Ireland.
The ban starts on June 3, 2024 and will end on September 3, 2024.
Additionally, the ban does not apply to hormone replacement therapy, only puberty blockers.
Today, NHS England sent a letter to patients currently on the waiting list for puberty blockers outlining the restrictions. The letter stated, “It will also be a criminal offense to possess these medicines, where the individual had reasonable cause to know that the medicine had been sold or supplied in breach of the ban.”
This type of emergency prohibition is extremely rare. The last time it was used was 25 years ago, when a herb in Chinese medicine was linked to two deaths and had many experts from the UK government weighing in.
The restrictions follow others implemented in England, Scotland, and Wales earlier this year which paused additional prescriptions of puberty blockers. These prescriptions only applied to the NHS and allowed for private doctors to prescribe them still, something now voided by the current restrictions.
The NHS in England placed additional restrictions on the prescription of puberty blockers, continuing a trend in previous national legislation.
These restrictions are the result of the Cass Review, an infamous non-governmental review put out by Dr. Hillary Cass, a pediatrician who has never worked with a transgender patient. The review claimed that puberty blockers have minimal scientific backing proving their effectiveness.
Cass has met with officials appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to discuss Florida’s policies on gender-affirming care. She had Dr. Rittakerttu Kaltiala as an advisor to her review, a conservative media darling who has been making appearances in news outlets and courtrooms across the world to oppose gender-affirming care.
The Cass Review has been widely criticized for inaccurately representing the science on puberty blockers and gender-affirming care as a whole, particularly in regards to its dismissal of many studies within its literature review.
Cass dismissed the AAP as “left-leaning,” claiming they’re biased in their views. The AAP is a widely regarded medical organization, and Cass cited no evidence of its alleged political bias.
The Good Law Project is planning on a legal challenge to the emergency order, and is currently soliciting donations.
Former prime minister Liz Truss said to Sky News that she “welcomed” the ban.
Representatives from the government called it a “landmark decision” and claimed it was in children’s best interests.
Trans healthcare advocates in the U.K. are outraged at the government’s decision.
Dr. Jo Hartland, an ex-NHS doctor, said, “I cannot understand the medical community’s silence and complicity in the direction trans healthcare is going If you aren’t campaigning for your trans patients I better not see a single one of you at Prides sharing some sh*t about ‘love=love’”
LGBTQ advocacy group LGB With The T said, “In an act of abuse and cowardess [sic], the Conservatives have decided that trans kids are worthless and do not deserve the same treatment as kids who aren’t trans.”
“They have banned trans kids from puberty blockers, whilst allowing kids who aren’t trans to carry on taking them.”
GenderGP said in a statement, “GenderGP are shocked at the attitude and behavior of the U.K. government in targeting trans youth. Gender reassignment is a protected characteristic under The Equality Act 2010, and it stands that every trans adult was once a trans child and we know that gender-affirming care has proven benefits.”
“We know that the interference in medicine and healthcare by the government will lead to serious harm for millions of patients and even death including those within the trans community. We remain committed to working with the government and the community to find solutions to prevent harm wherever it exists,” Gender GP added.
Napoleons in Manchester, England — said to be the oldest gay bar in Europe — has had its liquor license revoked. Authorities cited illegal workers, overflowing rubbish, blocked fire exits, and other violations as the cause.
The bar opened in 1941 and was long owned by renowned Manchester drag queen Fran Foo Foo Lamar. New owners purchased the property in 1972 and saw Manchester’s renowned Gay Village grow up around it, peaking in the 1990’s with dozens of venues and the area being nicknamed as Gaychester.
The original British version of Queer As Folk was set in Manchester and debuted in 1999.
Napoleons changed hands again in 2016, adding karaoke to the entertainment lineup and a late-night Chinese takeout restaurant.
The bar is currently owned by Napoleon HL Ltd., with company director Guixiang Liu registered as the designated premises supervisor, according to the BBC.
After testimony from Manchester authorities and the bar’s representative at a town hall licensing review hearing on Tuesday, council members voted to revoke the longtime bar’s liquor license.
An immigration raid at Napoleons on February 29 ended in the arrest of five workers and a £90,000 ($114,642) fine for the venue owners.
“It’s clear there’s a history of non-compliance and this has been compounded with these immigration offenses,” the council said in a statement about the many issues Napoleons failed to address over several years.
The neighboring Sackville House in the Gay Village complained of “overflowing rubbish which has attracted rats, pigeons and vermins” in a shared yard, which “has been the case for about two years.”
“The staff and customers have complained about the smell,” a representative from the historic house testified. “A generator was put in for five months and was on 24/7. It was moved in April. It was very noisy.”
A council licensing officer also reported internal “fire exits have been blocked” and workers’ inability to use and review required CCTV cameras and recorders at the site.
The representative for Napoleons said the issues — in addition to the immigration questions — have all been addressed. The representative said that revoking the bar’s alcohol license would “not be proportionate.”
“I think it’s fair to say in absence of the immigration offenses, [the Greater Manchester Police] would not be here,” Rebecca Lowe told the town hall committee meeting, referring to the police’s raid and testimony.
Napoleons denies that any of those arrested in the raid were working there at the time.
“We would say we are here prematurely and the revocation of the license in response to something that’s not yet proven. If the license is revoked and [the owner] loses months of trading which she cannot recover [from], that would not be proportionate,” a representative from the bar said.
Speaking of the revoked license, legal adviser to the panel Laura Raine said, “The committee considered all the options available for them today, but the main reasons are continuing breaches of conditions, illegal workers and a civil penalty notice, no management, clear lack of accountability, and a clear lack of training.”
During Pride Month, we celebrate the extraordinary courage and contributions of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) community. We reflect on the progress we have made so far in pursuit of equality, justice, and inclusion. We recommit ourselves to do more to support LGBTQI+ rights at home and around the world.
For generations, LGBTQI+ Americans have summoned the courage to live authentically and proudly — even when it meant putting their lives and livelihoods at risk. In 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York, brave LGBTQI+ individuals protested the violence and marginalization they faced, boosting a civil rights movement for the liberation of LGBTQI+ people that has transformed our Nation.
Since then, courageous LGBTQI+ Americans continue to inspire and bring hope to all people seeking a life true to who they are. LGBTQI+ people also continue to enrich every aspect of American life as educators, entertainers, entrepreneurs, athletes, actors, artists, scientists, scholars, diplomats, doctors, service members, veterans, and so much more.
Advancing equality for the LGBTQI+ community is a top priority for my Administration. I signed the historic Respect for Marriage Act, which protects the marriage of same-sex and interracial couples. As Commander in Chief, I was proud to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving in the United States military.
I signed historic Executive Orders strengthening civil rights protections for housing, employment, health care, education, and the justice system. We are also combating the dangerous and cruel practice of so-called “conversion therapy” and implementing a national strategy to end the HIV epidemic in this country.
We ended the disgraceful practice of banning gay and bisexual men from donating blood. We are doing this work here at home and around the globe, where LGBTQI+ community members are fighting for recognition of their fundamental human rights and seeking to live full lives, free from hate-fueled violence and discrimination.
But for all the progress, we know real challenges persist. Last year, as we celebrated Pride Month on the South Lawn of the White House, I had the honor of meeting survivors of the Club Q and Pulse shootings, which tragically took the lives of LGBTQI+ Americans.
Although my Administration passed the most significant gun law in nearly 30 years, the Congress must do its part and ban assault weapons. At the same time, families across the country face excruciating decisions to relocate to a different State to protect their children from dangerous and hateful anti-LGBTQI+ laws, which target transgender children, threaten families, and criminalize doctors and nurses.
These bills and laws attack our most basic values and freedoms as Americans: the right to be yourself, the right to make your own medical decisions, and the right to raise your own children. Some things should never be put at risk: your life, your safety, and your dignity.
To the entire LGBTQI+ community — and especially transgender children — please know that your President and my entire Administration have your back. We see you for who you are: made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support.
That is why I have taken historic action to protect the LGBTQI+ community. We are ensuring that the LGBTQI+ community is protected against discrimination when accessing health care, and the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice launched a safety partnership to provide critical training and support to the community, including resources to help report hate crimes and better protect festivals, marches, community centers, businesses, and health care providers serving the community.
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice are also addressing whether book bans may violate Federal civil rights laws when they target LGBTQI+ students or students of color and create hostile classroom environments.
Additionally, we are providing specialized services through the nationwide crisis hotline for LGBTQI+ youth who feel isolated and overwhelmed — anyone who needs help can call 988 and then press 3 to be connected to a professional counselor.
We are committing more resources for mental health programs that help families support and affirm their kids and are starting a new Federal initiative to address LGBTQI+ homelessness. We finalized new regulations requiring States to protect LGBTQI+ kids in foster care.
America is the only Nation in the world founded on an idea: We are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. We have never fully lived up to that idea, but we have never fully walked away from it either.
This month, we recommit to realizing the promise of America for all Americans, to celebrating courageous LGBTQI+ people, and to taking pride in the example they set for our Nation and the world.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2024 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month.
I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQI+ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
As a reminder, Trump never issued a Pride Month proclamation. In 2019, he did post a single tweet, for which he earned massive blowback from the cult.
The administration of President Joe Biden is urging tech and financial industries to help stop the spread of abusive, AI-generated “deepfake” sexual images used to harass real-life school kids and educators — particularly girls, women, and gay kids in schools. These images can ruin their lives, the Biden Administration says, but current school policies and laws don’t provide consistent ways to prevent their dissemination.
“As generative [artificial intelligence] broke on the scene, everyone was speculating about where the first real harms would come. And I think we have the answer,” said Biden’s chief science adviser Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to Fortune. “If you’re a teenage girl, if you’re a gay kid, these are problems that people are experiencing right now.”
Sexual deepfakes place an individual’s face onto a naked body or a sexually explicit scene. These images are then distributed to students online as a way to humiliate and harass others in schools.
“[Creating sexual deepfakes] used to take roughly between 100-200 photos of the victim’s face; you had to have a high-powered computer; you had to have a good amount of technical ability and skill,” said Omny Miranda Martone, chief of the Virginia-based nonprofit Sexual Violence Prevention Association. “Now … you only need one or two photos.”
The Biden Administration will release a document on Thursday asking AI developers, online payment processors, financial institutions, cloud computing providers, search engines, and Apple and Google to restrict applications that help generate and distribute sexually explicit deepfakes for profit, Politicoreported.
The administration has already gotten voluntary promises from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and other major tech companies to help minimize any harm caused by new AI systems before they’re publicly released. However, those commitments “[don’t] change the underlying need for Congress to take action here,” said Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council.
Current laws criminalize the production and possession of sexual images of children, even if the images have been entirely fabricated by AI image-generators. In fact, 20 states have already criminalized the dissemination of nonconsensual AI-generated pornographic images. Some states also have laws forbidding the distribution of “revenge porn” (that is, sexually explicit images released without the photographed individual’s consent). But, it can be difficult to identify the individuals and companies behind the online, fly-by-night AI image-generating tools that make it easy to spread sexual deepfakes.
Worse yet, no federal laws or guidelines tell school administrators how to respond when such images appear in educational environments, causing the consequences (or lack thereof) to vary wildly depending on where such incidents arise.
Schools can investigate such deepfakes as a violation of Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, according to Esther Warkov, executive director and co-founder of the nonprofit Stop Sexual Assault in Schools. In new Title IX rules released by the Biden Administration earlier this year, online sex-based harassment includes “nonconsensual distribution of intimate images that have been altered or generated by AI technologies.” The rules also require schools to address online and off-campus actions that create a hostile learning environment.
“This points to a larger need, which is to ensure that [a school district’s] Title IX procedures are properly in place,” Warkov told Politico. “Many school districts may not identify this problem as a potential Title IX issue.”
Without a federal law or guidelines, it’s unclear who gets disciplined, how minors get treated, and who must report such images to the police, especially since some school districts don’t require employees to report such images to legal authorities at all. The patchwork of existing policies and statewide laws can leave victims feeling unprotected.
“We’re pushing lawmakers to update [laws] because most protections were written way before AI-generated media,” Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said, according to Politico. “We’re also calling on the Department of Education to develop guidance to help schools navigate these situations.”
Earlier this month, the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse released a report explaining prevention, support, and accountability efforts for government agencies combating these images. The report said that the Department of Education will soon issue “resources, model policies, and best practices” for preventing online harassment in schools.
The White House also issued a “call to action” this week, urging Congress to pass legislation providing legal recourse for survivors. In the meanwhile, a bipartisan group of congressional legislators is scrambling to tackle the issue.
Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) has drafted the DEFIANCE Act, an amendment to the Violence Against Women Act that would give victims of sexual deepfakes the right to sue creators, solicitors, possessors, and distributors of the images for $150,000 in damages and legal fees if the perpetrators “knew or recklessly disregarded” the victims’ non-consensuality before disseminating the images.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) also recently introduced legislation to fine perpetrators $500,000 for disseminating such images. However, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is herself a victim of deepfake porn and a supporter of the DEFIANCE Act, has said that some legislators are reluctant to pursue any such legislation for fear that it could infringe on free speech rights or the operation of larger tech companies.
“Going really big, really fast, with something regulatory in an emerging industry space — that can oftentimes run into its challenges,” she said. “Centering the bill on survivors’ rights — particularly the right of action — helps us dodge some of those larger questions in the short term and build a coalition in the immediate term.”
That’s a slogan used often to remind us of the origins of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, celebrated each June in the U.S. and many other countries. It’s used especially by those who feel Pride parades and festivals have become too corporate and not as political as they should be. But Pride Month and the attendant events endure, having survived pandemics, hostile politicians, and internal controversies. Here’s a look at why we observe Pride Month in June.
The short answer is Stonewall. But there’s more to Pride history than that.
As most reasonably informed LGBTQ+ people and allies know, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, early in the morning of June 28, 1969, led the patrons to fight back, with riots in the area of the bar over the next several days. The Stonewall uprising is shrouded in myth and mystery about who was there, who threw the first brick, and so on. But what’s unquestionable is that the community showed it wasn’t going to take harassment and brutality lying down. It had shown that before, but Stonewall was the “Big Bang” that jump-started the movement at the end of a tumultuous decade, as historian Lillian Faderman wrote in Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement, published in 1994.
In 1959, drag queens and hustlers protested police harassment at Cooper’s Donuts in downtown Los Angeles, a popular gay hangout. In 1966, there were demonstrations and riots against similar mistreatment at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco. As patrons of the Black Cat Bar in L.A. rang in 1967, police raided the gay establishment, arresting those dressed in drag or kissing a member of the same sex. Gay Angelenos responded with multiple protests, and the Black Cat demonstrations led to the publication of a newsletter that became The Advocate.
The first annual observance in support of LGBTQ+ rights were the Reminder Day Pickets in Philadelphia. The demonstrations were held each July 4 from 1965 to 1969 at Independence Hall. Pioneering activists including Barbara Gittings and Frank Kameny were involved in the protests. After Stonewall, organizers of the Reminder Day Pickets suggested commemorating that date in the last weekend of June. See Library of Congress footage of a 1968 Reminder Day event below.
The first Pride marches or parades observing the Stonewall anniversary came in 1970 in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Activists were encouraged by the turnout and began planning repeat annual events, and other cities soon took up the cause. Boston’s first one came in 1971, Dallas’s and Philadelphia’s in 1972, Seattle’s in 1974, Washington, D.C.’s in 1975, and on and on. Pride celebrations spread overseas too; London’s first was in 1972, Sydney’s in 1978, Montreal’s in 1979. The international WorldPride was first held in Rome in 2000; Washington, D.C., is hosting it this year.
Now Pride is observed in cities large and small, and not always on the Stonewall anniversary, for reasons of convenience and more. For instance, in Palm Springs, Calif., located in a desert area, June is too scorching for parades, so Pride is held in early November. Los Angeles and West Hollywood usually hold Pride in early to mid-June, and in other cities it happens in July, August, or later. Tokyo holds Pride in April, Rio de Janeiro in November.
A look back on the first gay pride parade in LAyoutu.be
Spreading Pride to a week or a month
Some cities began celebrating a Pride Week in the 1970s, sometimes with official recognition from political leaders. For instance, Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman declared a Gay Pride Week in 1977. Now mayors, governors, and more are declaring Pride Month.
In 1999, Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to proclaim June as Pride Month — it was then dubbed Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Clinton was and is a Democrat; when Republican George W. Bush moved into the White House, he declined to recognize the month. When the next Democratic president, Barack Obama, took office in 2009, he began proclaiming LGBT Pride Month annually.
Again, with Donald Trump, a Republican president failed to declare Pride Month, although he sent out a tweet in 2019 calling for “solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation.” It amounted to “be grateful we don’t execute you,” as The Advocate’s headline noted.
Happily, with Democrat Joe Biden, Pride Month again has White House recognition. This year’s proclamation, issued Friday, declared June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month. “I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQI+ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high,” he wrote.
The burgeoning of Dyke Marches, Black Pride, and trans events.
As Pride celebrations spread, many women, people of color, and trans people became frustrated that they, like LGBTQ+ activist groups and society at large, were dominated by white cisgender men. So they not only fought to make general Pride celebrations more inclusive but founded their own.
The first Dyke Marches were held in 1993 in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Events centering queer women were held sporadically in cities around the nation before then, but they didn’t become continual occurrences. After 1993, many other cities began holding Dyke Marches.
Annual Black LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations have been held since 1991, with DC Black Pride being the first. These events are now in U.S. cities from coast to coast and in many other countries as well.
Trans people have often been marginalized even in the LGBTQ+ community, despite the importance of trans activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera to Stonewall and the beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ movement. Trans people and drag queens have sometimes even been barred from Pride parades. So in the 21st century, trans marches have been organized in many cities, with San Francisco’s, which started in 2004, being most likely the largest and oldest.
Weathering storms
Since the beginning of Pride celebrations in 1970, the queer movement has faced many challenges, from hostile politicians and religious leaders to internal dissension. Pride parades in large cities are now big enough that marchers and onlookers can ignore any anti-LGBTQ+ protesters who show up, and in progressive areas, politicians are eager to participate in Pride parades and festivals, which certainly wasn’t always the case. The AIDS epidemic devastated the community, but Pride went on, and the fight against the disease birthed many fierce activists. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of numerous Pride events, but celebrations have come back strong now. And debates have raged about whether corporate sponsorship of Pride is a good or a bad thing and whether the participation of uniformed police is appropriate. These debates will undoubtedly continue to go on, but so will Pride — both for veteran activists and the new generations coming out.
Just in time for Pride, a new tour on Boston’s historic Freedom Trail highlights the history of the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
The Rainbow Revolutionaries Tour promises to reveal Boston’s history on marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as the lives and loves of some of the local community’s famed figures – including one world-famous actress and one Revolutionary War hero.
The Rainbow Revolutionaries Tour is roughly one mile long and takes about 1.5 hours to complete. The tour route is varied, going through parks and streets, and follows the larger 2.5-mile-long Freedom Trail.
The tour begins on the Boston Common next to the Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial. Shaw was an abolitionist who raised and led the 54th, comprised of Black soldiers, into battle in the Civil War. The 1989 film Glory detailed the exploits of Shaw and the soldiers.
The first stop on the Rainbow Revolutionaries Tour is the historic Massachusetts State House. Completed in January 1798, the building is considered a classic example of Federal architecture and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Elaine Noble, the nation’s first out LGBTQ+ state legislator, served within its hallowed halls. Sworn into office on New Year’s Day 1975 by then-Gov. Michael Dukakis, Noble served two terms in the state legislature.
The next stop on the tour is the historic Park Street Church atop Beacon Hill. The church was founded in 1809 and the current structure opened its doors in 1810. Park Street Church provided an early platform for 19th-century activists to speak out against slavery. Abolitionist Edward Beecher, brother of early Black activist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin), became the church’s pastor in 1826. Fellow anti-slavery activist and noted author, publisher, and speaker William Lloyd Garrison delivered a speech in the church in 1829.
The tour’s final stop is the Old Corner Bookstore. The building housed the publisher Ticknor and Fields, which published such noted American titles as The Scarlet Letter, Walden, and TheMidnight Ride of Paul Revere.
The Rainbow Revolutionaries Tour runs on Saturdays and Sundays starting at 10:45 a.m., but only for June. Tickets are $17 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $8 for children. You can learn more and purchase tickets at thefreedomtrail.org.
