Mayor Michelle Wu and LGBTQ+ Advancement Announce New Legal Services Grants and Resources to Better Support LGBTQ+ Residents

Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement (MOLA) ahead of tomorrow’s annual Pride parade announced a series of new initiatives to support LGBTQ+ residents across Boston. To expand access to free legal services for residents, MOLA is awarding $125,000 in grants through their inaugural Family & Individual Legal Support Grant. Additionally, MOLA has launched a 90+ member LGBTQ+ Partner Network, a public-facing resource directory, and a new discrimination guidebook co-created with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and Northeastern University. This announcement during LGBTQ+ Pride Month builds on Mayor Wu’s work to make Boston a home for everyone. 

“Boston is proud to support and celebrate our LGBTQ+ residents across every neighborhood. As we work to make Boston a home for everyone, we are focused on uplifting our LGBTQ+ community organizations and better connecting all of our residents to City services,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “These investments will create space for joy and inclusivity for residents while putting resources directly into the hands of trusted community organizations. Wishing everyone a Pride full of freedom and love.”

“The City of Boston remains committed to our vision of being a home for everyone, and we recognize that families in Boston are very diverse,” said Mariangely Solis Cervera, Chief of Equity and Inclusion. “By investing in legal support, community partnerships, and access to information, we’re ensuring that LGBTQIA2S+ residents are tangibly supported across every part of city life.”

"In the face of hostility from the Federal Government, now is the time to rally around our LGBTQ+ community in Boston. I'm grateful for Mayor Wu and MOLA's tireless work to ensure that every Bostonian, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, has the support and resources they need to feel at home in our City,” said City Councilor Liz Breadon, District 9. “Our community is our biggest strength, and the LGBTQ+ Partner Network MOLA is launching will build upon that grassroots strength to provide a safety net for those seeking support or a community to call their own."

“I’m proud to stand with Mayor Wu and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement as we kick off Pride Month with bold, tangible investments in our LGBTQ+ communities. These new legal service grants and community-driven resources reflect the City’s ongoing commitment to equity, safety, and belonging,” said City Councilor Henry Santana, At-Large. “By expanding access to justice and connecting residents with trusted support networks, we are making it clear: LGBTQ+ Bostonians deserve to thrive in every neighborhood. This is what inclusive governance looks like, rooted in care, led by community, and committed to lasting change.”

“As we enter Pride Month, and as a gay man, this year feels very different. Yet in the face of attacks on the LGBTQ+ community coming from Washington, it is heartening to note that we live in a city and state that values diversity and human rights,” said State Representative John Moran. 

“I’m proud to be out and visible in a city like Boston. The work the Mayor and her team do to ensure Boston is a city for everyone who wants to be here is Herculean. While we can always be better and do more, I can’t think of a better city under a better mayor to dig in and lead during times like these,” said Representative Sam Montaño. 

MOLA is awarding two Family & Individual Legal Support Grants to GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS). GLAD and GBLS aid residents in navigating legal systems by providing services like legal name and gender marker changes, relationship protections, domestic violence legal support, and educational workshops, making processes more accessible to promote the wellbeing of all residents. The funding of these grants was made possible through the City’s annual operating budget.

“GLAD Law Answers is here to help LGBTQ+ people understand their rights and what they can do when they face discrimination. Since November we’ve seen an increase of 47% in calls as people worry about protecting their families, getting the healthcare they need, and the ability to go to school, work at their jobs, and do everyday things like drive and shop for groceries without harassment. Our ID Project provides no-cost legal support to help transgender folks get accurate state identification, which is more important than ever as the federal administration tries to block access to accurate federal IDs,” said Gabrielle Navarro, Senior Manager of Public Information, GLAD Law. “We’re grateful for this generous support from the Mayor's Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement which recognizes the critical need LGBTQ+ people and families have for legal information and support at this moment. This grant will help us continue to meet the moment and the needs of our community with clear and compassionate information and support.” 

“GBLS is grateful for the Mayor's support and excited for this opportunity to stand with our LGBTQIAS2+ partners and community members,” said Laura Gal, Managing Attorney of Greater Boston Legal Services’ Family Law Unit. “This funding will enable GBLS to expand outreach during a critical period of time nationally. GBLS wants to make sure we are accessible to our low-income LGBTQIAS2+ community members and responsive to their current family law needs.”

To ensure improved coordination amongst LGBTQ+ organizations, MOLA launched their Partner Network, a city-supported coalition of over 90 LGBTQ+ affirming organizations working together to advance shared goals and foster inclusion.  Through monthly meetings, the network has brought various organizations together, expanding the diverse communities they are able to reach and creating new programs and events to reach community members. 

“This network builds collective power and coordination among the people and organizations who know our communities best,” said Jullieanne Lee, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement. “It’s a vital space for collaboration, resource-sharing, and joy.”

"The MOLA Partner Network helped bring The History Project and Ethos together — we first connected at one of their meetings. It was a natural fit: combining elder care and LGBTQ+ oral history to create an intergenerational space for storytelling. The result was Brewing Connections, a living oral history in motion that focuses on the material needs, lived realities, and collective experiences of LGBTQ+ communities. That’s why programming like this matters: it brings people together across generations and identities, in real space, to honor what makes us different and stronger together,” said Matisse DuPont, Director of Engagement and Advancement, The History Project. 

"Collaborating with the History Project has allowed Ethos to present our LGBTQ+ elders with a new 'Brewing Connections' event in a shared, safe space,” said Mackenzie Valencia, LGBTQ+ Program Manager, Ethos. “This partnership and event allowed our LGBTQ+ elders to create relationships across generations while sharing their lived experiences with younger individuals of the community, an opportunity that would not have been possible without MOLA's assistance and the Partner Network.”

Building on the launch of the Partner Network, MOLA has also launched two new resources for residents – an online LGBTQ+ Resource Directory and a Discrimination Guidebook. The resource directory will better connect residents to housing, legal services, mental health care, education resources, and local events. Residents will be able to search for resources by neighborhood, cost, eligibility, and service type. Additionally, MOLA collaborated with Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and Northeastern University to create a new Discrimination Guidebook. The guide helps residents determine which agency to contact, understand eligibility criteria, and file complaints, making Boston a more inclusive city for residents and families. 

“The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) was pleased to partner with the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement (MOLA) and Northeastern University’s Capstone program to create this essential guidebook,” said Michael Memmolo, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, Executive Director. “Aimed at informing Massachusetts residents and visitors about their civil rights, and the agencies that protect those rights, this resource is intended to make an often-daunting process more accessible.”

"We are incredibly proud of our NU Policy School Capstone graduates for their civic research work that supported the development of this Guidebook,” said Dr. Kellee Tsai, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University. “We are also thankful to be able to participate in this amazing partnership with MOLA and MCAD to create this Guidebook that will undoubtedly support many residents in the Commonwealth. This is the kind of meaningful work that good university-government partnerships like ours can—and do—produce.”

As we kick off Pride Month, in celebration of resilience and diversity, Boston City Hall is currently showcasing a variety of art and creations throughout the month. 

Currently on display is “Ways of Making People Disappear,” a solo exhibition that explores the lack of safety of queer and trans folks in America, now until July 18, 2025 at Boston City Hall.

“For the past few years, I have been making portraits of LGBTQ folks simply living,” said Boston photographer, Michelle Shapiro. “I document participants sitting on their front steps, riding their bicycles, commuting to their jobs. I photograph friends and neighbors, living their lives and their truths. These images hold power on their own, but I then make another frame with the subject gone from the image, speaking to the literal and figurative erasure of queer lives. The empty space where a human being once stood is a powerful reminder of what’s at stake if queer and trans lives are erased.” 

For more information and to RSVP, please visit boston.gov/cityhallgalleries.