WinsingtonIII t1_j9zfy39 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:23 PM

Reply to comment by Nanotude in How is the east coast of MA by averydarkcat

I think to say local politics are "very conservative" is pretty misleading. It is true that local politics are very NIMBY in many Massachusetts communities (not all, the city I live in is building quite a bit, though there is a vocally opposed minority), but it's not like there are widespread local movements to ban acknowledging the existence of LBGTQ people in schools or things like that. Which are unfortunately things happening in some parts of the country.

The sort of "conservatism"/resistance to change you are talking about is primarily a housing/development thing (and I don't like that this resistance exists myself), it largely doesn't extend to other aspects politically.

Nanotude t1_ja0t3h0 wrote on February 26, 2023 at 12:07 AM

Well, in my city, the conservatism goes into social issues as well, and yes there is a contingent here that wo love to take us back to the 1950s and pretend LBGTQ people wouldn't exist if we didn't allow them to be open about it. Seriously. They don't always get their way, but they are very vocal, and it takes a very concerted effort to make any kind of progressive change here. Sure, every city is different but it would be very naive to believe everyone in MA is socially progressive.