St. Louis, nearby suburb recently rated for LGBTQ+ policies. Here’s how they performed
Proposed legislation designed to restrict the ability of transgender people to seek gender-affirming medical care, play sports, use restrooms and change names was more prevalent in 2022 than in any year previously, the Washington Post reported.
While much of the legislation has been proposed by state lawmakers, policies sometimes vary at the local level.
A recent Municipal Equality Index report from the Human Rights Campaign examined more than 500 municipalities to evaluate their policies affecting LGBTQ+ people.
The HRC was founded in 1980 and aims to promote equality for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. and worldwide. The 2022 Municipal Equality Index, the most recent version, is the 11th annual rating released by the organization.
St. Louis and St. Charles were among the cities included in the report, and their scores varied by 40 points. Here’s what to know.
What is the Municipal Equality Index?
The 2022 MEI evaluated 506 cities on 49 criteria, including non-discrimination laws, a municipality’s policies as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and city leadership on LGBTQ+ equality. The best possible score a municipality can receive is a 100.
“Flex points” are also available, and they include criteria that may not be accessible to all municipalities. Flex categories include policies on youth conversion therapy, city services for LGBTQ+ experiencing homelessness and more.
How did St. Louis do?
St. Louis received a score of 100 in the 2022 Municipal Equality Index. Categories where the city received all possible standard points include non-discrimination laws, leadership on LGBTQ+ equality, municipal services and law enforcement.
The city received 26 out of 28 possible points in the category “Municipality as Employer.” The HRC did not give the city the two potential points for an “inclusive workplace.”
To receive credit for having an inclusive workplace, a municipality must have one of the following:
An LGBTQ+ employee resource group open to all city employees
LGBTQ-inclusive diversity training for all city staff
A recruitment program that actively advertises available positions to the LGBTQ+ community
“St. Louis has a long, storied history of fighting for civil rights, and that includes for the protection of our LGBTQIA+ community,” Mayor Tishaura Jones said in a Dec. 1 statement. “We are thankful to the Human Rights Campaign for this distinction, and to all our community members who continue to make their voices heard.”
Mayor Jones signed an executive order in June to establish the city’s first LGBTQ+ advisory board, which will have nine members.
“I believe that those closest to the problems are also those closest to the solutions,” Mayor Jones said in a June statement. “The members of this advisory board will be tasked with collaborating, bringing together its resources, and helping my administration stay laser-focused on the issues directly affecting the LGBTQIA+ community, and to pursue meaningful policy changes.”
The HRC gave St. Louis flex points for policies about youth and conversion therapy, city employee domestic partner benefits, services for people living with HIV or AIDS, openly LGBTQ+ elected or appointed leaders and city policy testing the limits of restrictive state law.
What did St. Charles score?
The 2022 HRC Municipal Equality Index gave St. Charles a score of 60. The city received points for the following categories:
Municipal non-discrimination laws related to housing and public accommodations
Non-discrimination based on sexual orientation in city employment
Municipal human rights commission
LQBTQ+ liaison or task force in police department
Reported 2020 hate crime statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Municipal leadership’s public position on LGBTQ+ equality
Leadership’s pro-equality legislative or policy efforts
St. Charles did not receive points in municipal non-discrimination laws in employment, an inclusive municipality workplace and other measures.
Chuck Lovelace, staff liaison for St. Charles’ Human Relations Commission, wrote in an email to the News-Democrat the commission’s goals include promoting respect, harmony and understanding in the St. Charles community.
“The Commission endeavors to eliminate prejudice among citizens, groups, agencies, and departments within the City and to promote mutual understanding and respect among all social, racial, religious, cultural, and ethnic groups in the community,” Lovelace said. “The Human Relations Commission is dedicated to working alongside the City to improve the quality of life for all residents and visitors. To help focus our efforts and measure our progress, each year we review and work to improve, our MEI score.”
St. Charles City has participated in the MEI since 2017.
“The Human Rights Campaign annually evaluates and scores communities like ours, creating a Municipal Equality Index. They look at how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ people who live and work there,” Lovelace said. “In recent years, our score has improved as we have received additional points in Law Enforcement, a LGBTQ+ Liaison/Task Force in the Police Department and Reporting of Hate Crimes Statistics to the FBI. Additionally, the city recently updated ordinances to include terminology for gender identity and gender expression within ordinances relating to discrimination protections.”
More information about St. Charles’ performance in the ratings, including previous years’ scores, is available online.
