The Human Rights Campaign released the Municipal Equality Index (MEI) for 2016. The City of Richmond is among 506 cities rated nationally on how inclusive cities’ laws, policies, and services are of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Richmond received a score of 83 out of 100 which is highest score the city has ever received. Richmond has been rated by MEI since the first edition of the MEI in 2012.  You may view a copy of Richmond’s scorecard online.

I want to thank the mayor’s staff, particularly Alex Knox, for engaging with the Human Rights Campaign to make sure Richmond was fully credited for every eligible program and policy counting towards this score.

The City of Richmond’s scores by year:

2012: 66 points
2013: 77 points
2014: 80 points
2015: 78 points
2016: 83 points

57 California cities were rated. Richmond scored in the top 32% of cities in the state, and the top 25% of cities in the country. Richmond’s score is 28 points above the national mean and has gone up 17% since 2012. The increase in score can be attributed to the public show of support for the LGBTQ community from the mayor and city leadership as well as the active collaboration between the Mayor’s Office and the Richmond Rainbow Pride organization. The Mayor’s Office and Richmond Rainbow Pride are working together on pro-equality and LGBTQ inclusivity efforts with the hopes of attaining a perfect score next year.

About the MEI: The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of the LGBTQ people who live and work there. Each city is rated based on 44 criteria in five categories: non-discrimination laws, municipality as employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and relationship with the LGBT Community.