The Human Right’s Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s latest Municipal Equality Index (MEI) shows Washington cities performing above the national average in LGBTQ Equality measurements.
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The 2018 MEI, created in partnership with the Equality Federation Institute, evaluated 506 cities across the United States, scoring them on various measurements of equality and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. These measurements include non-discrimination protections, youth bullying prevention policies, anti-conversion therapy protections, and inclusive health care benefits.
The report evaluated ten Washington cities of various sizes including Bellevue, Bellingham, Pullman, Seattle, and Vashon. The ten cities scored an average of 82 out of 100 points, putting them far above the national average of 58 points.
Two Washington cities, Bellevue and Seattle, scored perfect 100-point scores. In Bellevue, the MEI gave the city perfect scores for its workplace protections for LGBTQ employees and the fairness of law enforcement in their engagement with the LGBTQ community. Though Bellevue did not get a perfect score for its leadership’s commitment to LGBTQ equality, bonus points related to the city’s services for LGBTQ youth and homeless helped bring its score to 100.
With a score of 56 points, Pullman was the only Washington city evaluated to score below the national average. Pullman pulled in low scores for workplace protections such as transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, and for law enforcement fairness such as lacking an LGBTQ police liaison or task force.
Contributing to Washington’s overall high scores are the state’s non-discrimination laws such as the state’s move to ban conversion therapy during the 2018 session.
“Forward-looking leaders across the U.S. are stepping up, protecting their youth from so-called ‘conversion therapy,’ increasing anti-bullying protections, ensuring transgender city employees have access to inclusive health care benefits and protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in all areas of life,” said HRC President Chad Griffin in a statement. “As we approach one of the most critical elections of our lifetimes, it is incumbent on all of us to make sure that we help elect more leaders across the nation who share this uncompromising commitment to equality for all.”
You can view the detailed score cards of each city in the equality index here.
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