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Gov. Maura Healey caps off Pride Month by trolling Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis & Greg Abbott

By · Updated on January 26, 2024
Massachusetts governor Maura Healey celebrating Pride in front of the State House.

Massachusetts governor Maura Healey is capping off Pride Month with some good old-fashioned trolling.

This week, the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism enacted billboards in Texas and Florida with a message for persecuted LGBTQ+ folx: come up to the Bay State!

The two billboards feature LGBTQ+ couples with the words “Massachusetts For Us All.”

“At a time when other states are misguidedly restricting LGBTQIA+ rights, we are proud to send the message that Massachusetts is a safe, welcoming and inclusive place for all,” said Healey in a press release, via The Boston Globe.

“The ‘Massachusetts For Us All’ campaign sends a clear message that Massachusetts stands for freedom and civil rights. To anyone considering where they want to live, raise a family, visit or build a business — we want you to join us here in Massachusetts.”

Texas and Florida, of course, have passed a rash of anti-LGBTQ+ laws over the last year.

During Florida’s most recent legislative session alone, Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis expanded the state’s ban on discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in class to cover all grade levels, and signed bills banning gender-affirming care for minors and making it illegal for transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Florida also passed a law restricting drag performances.

Not to be outdone, Texas governor Greg Abbott recently signed his legislature’s own anti-drag bill…quietly over a weekend. In addition, he signed a bill that bans gender-affirming care for minors and essentially forces transgender kids already receiving that care to de-transition. Abbott expanded Texas’ trans sports ban to cover college athletes, too.

Conversely, Massachusetts is one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly states in the country. LGBTQ+ people are protected by an array of anti-discrimination laws; and in 2018, voters overwhelmingly supported a referendum on trans rights, including the use of public bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with people’s gender identities.

That’s unsurprising, given Massachusetts’ proud progressive history. It was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2003, and way back in 1974, voters elected the first out state representative to ever serve in the U.S., Elaine Noble.

Today, LGBTQ+ people are power players throughout the commonwealth, right up to the governor’s office. Last November, Healey became one of the country’s first two openly lesbian elected governors.

Sarah Stanton, the undersecretary of economic strategies who worked on the “Mass For Us All” campaign, said one of Massachusetts’ biggest economic selling points is its dedication to inclusion.

“Florida, much like many states in the country, as well as Texas, has a thriving economy that doesn’t necessarily share the same values that Massachusetts has,” she told the Globe. “We wanted to make sure that we were promoting our values as part of an economic selling point for Massachusetts, keeping up our constant goal of increasing our competitiveness, and also being unwavering in our commitments to LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive freedom.”

There are 20 billboards running for eight weeks across the Northeast, as well as six in Texas and Florida that are running for four weeks, respectively.

Scroll down for more reaction to Healey’s Pride-tastic troll job…

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