Bay State cities earn top scores for LGBTQ equality on 2018 HRC survey

Massachusetts cities take the lead again this year nationwide in LGBTQ equality on the Human Rights Campaign’s latest Municipal Equality Index survey.

The 2018 “Municipal Equality Index”—the only nationwide rating system of LGBTQ inclusion in municipal law and policy—shows that cities across the country, including in Massachusetts, continue to take the lead in supporting LGBTQ people and workers—even in the face of renewed attacks this year on the LGBTQ community by federal and state officials.

For LGBTQ Americans, legal protections and benefits vary widely depending on location—states and cities have markedly different laws governing discrimination. 21 states have non-discrimination laws that include protections for LGBTQ people in employment, and 20 states have laws that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in places of public accommodation. But cities are leading the way: since the MEI’s debut in 2012, the number of cities earning perfect scores has increased more than sevenfold, and today at least 25 million people live in cities that have more comprehensive, transgender-inclusive non-discrimination laws than their state.

The average score for cities in Massachusetts is 88 out of 100 points, which falls above the national average of 58.