The annual Boston Pride Parade kicks off at the corner of Tremont and East Berkeley streets at 12 p.m. Saturday, marking the city's 41st march to celebrate and entertain while simultaneously promoting equal rights for the region's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
Members of the True Light Pentecost Church stage a protest against the third annual Upstate Pride march in Spartanburg, S.C., on Sat., June 4. The march was held in support of gay and lesbian rights. BOSTON -- The annual Boston Pride Parade kicks off at the corner of Tremont and East Berkeley streets at 12 p.m. Saturday, marking the city's 41st march to celebrate and entertain while simultaneously promoting equal rights for the region's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
The parade will make its way from the South End, longtime home of the city's vibrant gay community, and continues through Boston Common until reaching City Hall Plaza, where the a festival continues until 6 p.m.
The activities are among the many citywide events planned to coincide with Boston Pride Week, which began with a ceremonial raising of a rainbow pride flag at City Hall on June 3.
Afternoon block parties will take place Sunday, the last day of festivities, in Jamaica Plain and on Stuart Street, according to event organizers.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, appears poised to become the first state in the country to allow payments to married same-sex public workers to help defray the cost of federal taxes on health benefits.
Beginning in July, Cambridge will become the first commonwealth city to begin making quarterly payments to city employees in same-sex marriages who must pay federal taxes on the value of the health benefits their spouse receives from the city.
Under federal law, health benefits received by a spouse in a married heterosexual relationship are not taxable income to the employee, yet married same-sex couples must report those benefits as taxable income.
Some private U.S. companies already offer help to defray that cost for married same-sex employees, but Cambridge is believed to be the first municipality in the nation to grant the payments, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil-rights organization.
Pride week features a number of activities throughout Boston, including Saturday's parade. More information is available at www.bostonpride.org.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.