The Human Rights Campaign released the 2022 Municipal Equality Index, and Boston is on the list. How did we score?

Each year, the Human Rights Campaign releases a Municipal Equality Index which takes a deep dive into municipal laws, policies, and services and how inclusive they are of LGBTQ+ people. This year’s edition examined 506 cities on 49 different criteria across five categories — non-discrimination laws, municipality as employer, services and programs, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.

Based on these criteria, our city earned a 100 out of 100. A perfect score. Here’s a breakdown of how we got here… and how we can go even further.

Non-discrimination laws

This category looks at whether LGBTQ+ discrimination is prohibited by law in areas of employment, housing, and public accommodation. Boston achieved a 30 out of 30 for our laws across the state, county, and municipality, and received bonus points for protecting youth against conversion therapy.

Municipality as employer

Cities can achieve points for inclusive employment policies like trans-inclusive healthcare policies and non-discrimination in city employment. Our city got a 28 out of 28.

Services and programs

This section considers the city’s efforts to include LGBTQ+ folks in city services and programs. Boston scored 12 out of 12, and got bonus points for city-offered services to LGBTQ+ older adults and people living with HIV or AIDS.

Law enforcement

Looking at the relationship between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community, Boston earned 22 out of 22.

Leadership on LGBTQ+ equality

This section looks at city leadership’s commitment to advocacy and inclusion. Boston got a 8 out of 8, and bonus points for openly LGBTQ+ elected and appointed leaders.

Where we can improve

Even a perfect score doesn’t mean a perfect city. Although Boston received the highest possible overall score, with a few extra efforts we could have seen even more bonus points. For example, single-occupancy all-gender facilities or city-provided services for the transgender community would have boosted Boston's total "flex" score.

If you want to get involved, here are some local organizations that support the LGBTQ+ community.

Plus, the city launched an Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement in March to provide community programming + resources.

How do you think we could make our community more welcoming to all? Let us know.