AckNowledgeMeNts
tAble of coNteNts
Frequently Asked Questions
An Introduction
WeoNly owe many thanks Jessie About tHe AutHoR tHe MeitHe teAM How weRe tHese How ARe scoRes cAN cities iN to stAtes Sheffield, Sam Anderson, Finkel Cathryn Oakley is Legislative Counsel, The 2013 MEI is a project that cities cHoseN? cAlculAted? witH good lAws get Limor good and Jennifer Pike who jumped in when Advocacy at the Cities requires a significant and scoRes? ThisState year,and theMunicipal cities rated are: the are rated on a scalebreadth of 0-100, we needed hands, Rights Campaign Foundation. Inbased depth to pull off, and Definitely not. extra The MEI wasand also to 50 Human state capitals, the 150 largest on of theexpertise city’s laws, policies, the law fellows and to interns who helped addition conducting, managing, fortunately the teamThere of people designed measure the cities in thetoUnited States, the 3 and benefits, and services. are who specifically out throughout process. Paul publishing Municipal Equality this project more than uplaws and policies the of the municipality, largest cities the or municipalities in Index, 100support standard points andis20 bonus has been anlaw indispensable shestate, is responsible for assisting to the task.points are awarded for not Guequierre the state. While state might each the city home to the state points (bonus to andscore, a voicepositive of municipal and largest local legislators and advocates addfriend to a city’s state state’s public university programming or actions that apply As ever, simply would Aisha Satterwhite in enacting laws that further is not necessary for a cityhas to been (including undergraduate and LGBT to some butthis notproject all cities). For morenot lawequality. have been possible without Sarah a patient and helpful guide. Janice equality. She is a member of HRC score 100 points. In fact, some cities graduate enrollment) and 75 cities information on the scoring system, Hughes and Bob Villaflor made sure field team. without positive state law did score andFoundation’s municipalities that have high seeWarbelow page 17. and Whitney Lovell, each of whom dispensed truly incredible informative 100everything points in was this beautiful, year’s index. proportions of same-sex couples is afor member of the Virginia amounts of wisdom and support—not wHeRe did tHe iNfoRMAtioN and on time, and Soung Wiser and (seeCathryn page 16 more information). is tHis A RANkiNg ofGeneral tHe foR tHese elbow scoRes bar and practiced family law before to mention grease—and are Caroline Brickell of The Future editions of the Municipal coMe fRoM? best cities foR lgbt joiningIndex the Human Rights Campaign responsible for making this project Design Co. are responsiblepeople for the Equality will continue to to live iN?design. Theactually MEI team conducted the Foundation. She is aofgraduate of happen. incredible increase the number cities rated. No. This is not a ranking of a city’s research, compiled it into a draft George Mason University School of This yearand the sent MEI owes a particular atmosphere quality of life. It is we scorecard, it to the city for andkNow Smith College. fiNAlly,orbut especiAlly, didLaw you tHAt ___ isN’t debt Cities of gratitude to opportunity Michael Porcello, an evaluation of the city’s laws and review. had an to A city? tHANk ouR pARtNeRs At tHe Research Fellow Extraordinaire, who policies and an examination of how review the draft scorecard and offer Yes. A few of the places rated in equAlity fedeRAtioN. vital research, logistical, and inclusive city services of aLGBT anyprovided feedback prior to publication. the MEI are “census-designated This partnership hasare been delight and moral support to the MEI 2013. The people. Some high-scoring cities places” that are not incorporated as has brought real value to the project dramatic expansion of this project mayfrom not the feelstart. trulyItwelcoming all cities. In that case, we rated the local has been a for particular would not have been possible without LGBT people, and some low-scoring government that actually serves that pleasure to work so closely with Ian him, and the MEI benefited greatly from cities may feeland more census-designated place, which is Palmquist, thewelcoming MEI owes a than real his months of hard work collecting, theirdebt policies might to reflect. usually the county. This is explained of gratitude Ian, A.J. Bockelman, managing and assessing thousands of further on page 16. Brandie Balken, Chuck Smith, Katie pieces of data. We offer him a heartfelt acknowledgement of everything that he contributed to this project and we will miss him next year.
Belanger and Ted Martin for sharing their thoughtful advice about growing and improving the MEI. We thank those Equality Federation partners who shared their story in this publication. Pamela O’Leary joined the MEI team The participation of so many state this year and jumped in right away— leaders has made this project a much are sent thankful her enthusiasm, Ourwe team out for a letter by Themore feedback lasted several tool, robustwindow and useful educational dedication, and many hours email and certified mail hard in April to of months. Finally, cities were sent and a very special thanks goes out to work.and Hercity contribution was critical to theirevery mayors managers notifying finalEquality scorecards and information Federation member who thethat project’s success andbeing we were glad about them their cities were the 2014 MEI in the same provided feedback—please see the to have on followed board. by rated. The had letterher was way.facing Equality Federation Institute page for the logos of groups a draft scorecard sent to the mayors state groups were able to that were also particularly engaged in and city managers in July also via review the scorecards and provide making the MEI a success this year. email and certified mail. feedback the MEItoteam. We looktoforward working with you again next year for MEI 2014!
Research Process The information reflected in this publication was gathered by the MEI team and compiled into draft scorecards using publicly available information. Cities were then offered an opportunity to review the scorecards, ask any questions, and submit any additional information they wished for the MEI team to consider.
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Letter from Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation TheAMunicipal Equality Index would not have been possible without the valuable A Letter from Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director of the Equality Federation Institute contributions made by state local advocates. A particular thanks therefore goes “Enduring Growth for Cities Is Drivenand by Diversity,” by Richard Florida out to the following:
How It Works 12 14 16 17 26
Executive Summary 2013 MEI Scorecard City Selection Scoring Criteria Parts I - VI Acknowledging Context • Not All Cities Are Created Equal • Accounting for City Size • Balancing State and Local Laws • Understanding Restrictive State Law • Effect of Enforcement and Lived Experience
What We Found 38 41 54 55 58
Summary of Results Table of 2013 Scores Take Action for Equality Changes to the MEI in 2014 Acknowledgements
Success Stories 13 18 22 29 40 44 49 53
San Antonio, Texas by Mayor Julian Castro Missoula, Montana by City Councilmember Caitlin Copple Equality Maryland by Executive Director Carrie Evans Atlanta, Georgia by Mayor Kasim Reed Fairness Kentucky by Executive Director Chris Hartman South Carolina Equality by Executive Director Ryan Wilson Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce by Director of Public Policy Joe Grace Equality Ohio by Deputy Executive Director Kim Welter
For questions or additional information, please contact mei@hrc.org.
© 2013 by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation owns all right, title, and interest in and to this publication and all derivative works thereof. Permission for reproduction and redistribution is granted if the publication is (1) reproduced in its entirety and (2) distributed free of charge. The Human Rights Campaign and the Equality logo are trademarks of the Human Rights Campaign. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and design incorporating the Equality logo are trademarks of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
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