Celebrate Pride on Rainbow-Wrapped Bluebikes

For every ride taken on a pride bike this June, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is donating $1 to support LGBTQ+ health care.

June is Pride Month, that wonderful time of the year when rainbows proliferate and we celebrate the fact that love is love. While many Pride celebrations remain on hold due to the pandemic, folks in the bike share world are still showing support by elevating LGTBQ+ voices, creating social media content and wrapping bikes. This particular Pride Month happens to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Boston Pride and as such, Beantown is going all out.

Boston’s bike share system, Bluebikes, currently has 100 bikes wrapped in a rainbow pride-themed design, available throughout its 10-municipality, 300-station system. Bluebikes, which is named for its sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, has aptly dubbed the fleet “Blue Cross Proud” bikes. For every ride taken on a Blue Cross Proud bike throughout the month of June, the health insurance agency will donate $1 to Fenway Health, an LGBTQ+ health care, research and advocacy organization headquartered in Boston.

“Blue Cross is committed to supporting the LGBTQ+ community and to creating a more equitable health care system,” says Stephanie Browne, vice president, talent acquisition, and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Blue Cross. “Although Pride festivities look different this year, we’re proud to use our Bluebikes sponsorship to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ equality.”

Blue Cross is a corporate sponsor of Fenway Health, which in addition to serving the broader population, focuses specifically on the case of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, as well as those living with HIV/AIDS. Founded in 1971 by medical students that believed healthcare should be a right, not a privilege, Fenway Health has grown from a free clinic with one volunteer doctor to a health center with more than 600 staff and a patient population upwards of 33,000. 

“It’s exciting to know that 100 pride-themed Bluebikes will be deployed this month and that the community will have an opportunity to support our critical care, education and advocacy in a unique way,” says Ellen LaPointe, chief executive officer at Fenway Health.

If you live in the Boston area, we highly encourage you to get out and ride with pride. For those elsewhere that’d like to still support Fenway Health, consider making a donation. 

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The Better Bike Share Partnership is a JPB Foundation-funded collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the PeopleForBikes Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or sign up for our weekly newsletter. Story tip? Write kiran@peopleforbikes.org