🏳️‍🌈 How to celebrate Pride Month

It’s Thursday, Boston.

☀️ It’s also the first day of June. But it feels more like July. Expect temps in the high 80s. It’s a long lunch break kind of day.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Happy hour comeback?

• ChatGPT in Mass. hospitals

• Check your ninja knives

Up first...

THINGS TO DO

Celebrate Pride Month like a local

Today marks the first day of Pride Month. And while celebrating Pride isn’t just reserved for June, here are a few ways to honor and support the incredible contributions the LGBTQ community has made across the country and in our own backyard:

🏳️‍🌈 Ring in Pride Month at City Hall Plaza tonight. The City’s Pride Kickoff runs from 4 to 7 p.m. where they’ll unveil the “Portraits of Pride” photography exhibit showcasing LGBTQ+ leaders (which will be there all month). There will also be several performances, including Big Body Kweeng, the first queer rapper to win the Mass. favorite for NPR's Tiny Desk competition.

💃 Experience Boston’s Pride Parade for the first time since 2019. The parade and festival will return to Copley Square and the Common on June 10. This year’s celebrations will be organized by Boston Pride For The People, as the previous group (Boston Pride) fell apart amid complaints over racial and transgender inclusion. You can sign up here if you’re interested in marching.

🍺 Eat and drink all in the name LGBTQ+ orgs. Aeronaut Brewing Co. is hosting a beer release party to benefit the Trans Emergency Fund with live music and a drag show; Rebel Rebel Wine Bar is throwing an old-school BBQ cookout where proceeds from every spritz purchased will support the Mass. Trans Political Coalition; and 100% of the proceeds from Flight Club’s “Pride Cocktail” will benefit BAGLY. Also, here’s a running list of LGBTQ-owned and operated restaurants to support.

👣 Take a walking tour of Boston’s LGBTQ history. Over the course of 90 minutes, you’ll learn about LGBTQ people from Boston’s history and the city’s gay and lesbian culture. The two-ish mile walk covers everything from Thoreau’s walks along the Common to the AIDS memorial quilt project. It’s also in partnership with The History Project, a nonprofit org preserving New England's LGBTQ history.

🛍️ Support local LGBTQ businesses at Sam Adams Taproom. The Beer Hall is hosting a Pride vendor market pop-up on June 14 featuring goods from Trident Booksellers, Copper & Print, Why Not Jewelry by Kirsty, CANdles by Beers Over Boston, and MICH Designs. Plus, you can shop while sipping on their Love Conquers Ale brew.

👀 Want more? Here’s an even bigger list of Pride events put together by Bay Windows, a local LGBT newspaper, and a list of other Pride festivals and parties.

TOGETHER WITH SOULCYCLE

Giveaway alert!

🚲 Heads up! We’re giving away two tickets to a Pride Month Soul Showdown at SoulCycle Back Bay on June 9. To be eligible, refer a friend below and have them accept your invite between now and Thursday, June 1. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below.*

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🍹 Happy hour is getting another look. Sen. Julian Cyr reintroduced a bill that would allow discounted happy hour drinks to return to Mass. Happy hour has been banned in the state since 1984. Cyr told Politico that “Massachusetts has a fun problem” (ouch) and has been pushing to bring happy hour back for a while now. He also thinks it could be used as a way to lure remote workers downtown. The legislation would also allow discounts on any alcohol during a specific period of time, as long as it’s not between 10 p.m. and closing time.

😡 BU’s president claps back. Remember when members of the Writer’s Guild of America and students booed the hell out of BU’s commencement speaker? Yeah, BU’s president didn’t love that. In a statement, President Brown said he apologized to Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav after he was met with “appallingly coarse and deliberately abusive” jeers and booing at the school’s commencement last week. He blamed cancel culture for the boos, saying it’s “become all too prevalent on university campuses,” and called for civility. But this won’t be his problem anymore — he’s retiring at the end of the school year.

🏥 ChatGPT is making an appearance in Mass. hospitals. Hospitals already use AI for things like recording medical notes and reading radiology scans, but Boston Children’s Hospital is looking to expand its role. They posted a job opening for an AI prompt engineer that’s meant to help find administrative uses for AI in the hospital. While early research shows ChatGPT can accurately answer some medical questions, it’s not going to replace a doctor anytime soon.

🎨 The Station opens for the season. The gas station turned outdoor community space in the Fenway (equipped with swings, a furnished deck, and a new pickleball court) officially opens today. This season will feature a new weekly wine garden operated by The Wine Press, the return of the Fenway Flea vintage market, and a rotating art gallery. They’ll also be hosting specialty wine and sake tastings this month. You can see their full events calendar here.

ONE LAST THING

Check your knives

It was a weird month for airport security in New England.

Over the weekend, the TSA confiscated a set of Naruto-themed throwing knives from a passenger’s carry-on luggage (that’s a manga series, if you’re unfamiliar). Dan Velez, a TSA New England spokesperson, tweeted a photo of the knives with a reminder that you can only bring them in checked luggage, not carry-on. The knives were confiscated and the passenger was allowed to fly.

Also confiscated in May: an 75mm inert artillery shell at Connecticut’s Bradley Airport (military shells are a “no go,” even if they’re inoperable) and a hookah that was designed to look like a turquoise pistol at Logan. A literal smoking gun.

✈️ Thanks for reading! And here I am worried about whether they’ll confiscate my travel-sized body wash.

🍔 The results are in: While 50% of readers have yet to try a burger at Veggie Galaxy, it’s on plenty of their checklists. One reader also wanted to plug their reuben, as it’s “one of the best.”

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