Five Massachusetts Towns Get Perfect Scores on LGBTQ Equality

Photo by billandkent on Flickr/Creative Commons

Boston is one of four spots in Massachusetts with a perfect score on LGBTQ equality, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s fifth-annual “Municipal Equality Index,” published this week.

The MEI assessed lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer inclusion in the laws and policies in 506 towns and cities across the United States. Ten cities in Massachusetts made this year’s list, with an average score of 85 out of 100—a full 30 points higher than the national average. Boston has scored a perfect 100 for the last five years and counting.

“Boston has been a leader in advancing LGBTQ rights at a local level, a fact reflected in its membership in this exceptional group of municipalities earning perfect scores every year since the inception of our Municipal Equality Index,” HRC president Chad Griffin said in a release. “For the past five years, Boston has stood up for its LGBTQ residents and municipal workers time and time again,, serving as an inspiring example to other municipal, state and the federal governments on how to ensure full equality for all.”

In addition to Boston’s high marks, Cambridge, Provincetown, Salem, and Worcester all scored 100s as well. The other Mass. municipalities listed on the MEI were Northampton (88), Arlington (81), Amherst (67), Springfield (64), and Lowell (54).

Since the MEI’s launch in 2012, the HRC says the number of cities with perfect scores has more than quintupled, while cities listed on the MEI for all five years improved by an average of 20 points over that time.