Leominster, The Bible Belt of Massachusetts

You expect homophobes in training to be somewhere in the South or Mountains, but what about blue Massachusetts?

It's not all Boston and Amherst.  In between, there are some relatively conservative, semi-rural, Bible Belt towns. Like Leominster (not Leonminster, and the "o" is silent), about an hour's drive west of Boston

 Banded by the Leominster State Forest, Wachusett Mountain, and Johnny Appleseed State Park

The comb capital of the world.  Originally combs were produced with local natural materials, but then someone got the idea of using plastic (the only museum in town, dedicated to plastic, not combs, closed in 2008).

40% Republican, 81% white, 10% under the poverty line.

Heavily Catholic, but some Protestant fundamentalist gems like New/Life Church, Qodesh Family Church, and Eternal Refuge Pentecostal Church.

Ok, I had to know -- why Qodesh, which means "holy hill" in Hebrew?

It's a branch of Lighthouse Chapel International. 50,000 members, mostly in Ghana. Dag Heward Mills is the founder and prophet.

How much do you want to wager that it is NOT gay-positive?

 Other than Johnny Appleseed, Leominster is home to Robert Cormier, author of depressing novels about mentally ill children.

And Paul DiGiovanni of the band "Boys Like Girls," which I never heard of until this moment, but the name is a slap in the face to gay people everywhere.

No, Paul, not all boys like girls.  I'll bet there are even some in Leominster.

Searching for "Leominster" and "gay" on Google reveals mostly news stories about homophobia.

Gay man killed by his closeted lover, who then commits suicide.

Man accuses city clerk of anti-gay bias, keeping him off the candidate list for state representative.

Leominster Taxi disciplines driver who uses homophobic slur.

Homophobic attack on Pleasant Street.

Pity the Leonminster High School wrestlers (left) and swimmers (top photo).  I don't know if they're going to become the offenders or victims.



Plus the "Leominster Handshake," defined by the Urban Dictionary as when two men have oral sex behind Wyman  Liquor Store on Pleasant Street.

Is Wyman's like a cruising area?  It's right downtown, across the street from a store called Alpha and Omega.




The high school has no Gay-Straight Alliance, but it does have a Young Patriot Club

You can also go to the Master's Christian Academy, the Wachusett Hills Christian School ("in our school, prayer is not against the rules"), the Living Stones Christian School, and the Pepperill Christian Academy (but it just has 12 sutdents).



Leominster has a symphony, a community theater, a 3-day long arts festival, and a  pool, but I still think I'll keep driving until I reach Boston.

















Which doesn't sound like a bad idea.