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Wednesday, November 19, 2014
News Charlotte tastes the rainbow, is ranked N.C.'s most welcoming for gays
Posted By Emiene Wright on Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 1:26 PM
Take a bow, Charlotte — you’re the gayest city in North Carolina. Or, more accurately, the most welcoming to LGBTQ citizens. Hot on the heels of Gaston County’s resolution to formally condemn federally recognized marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign released their annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI) Nov. 15th. They found Charlotte the highest ranking city in the state for inclusivity of LGBT residents.
This year’s MEI studied 353 cities from every state in the nation, looking at factors like relationship recognition, non-discrimination in city employment, law enforcement policies, and municipal services. They were rated on these measures from a scale of 1 to 100, with bonus points awarded for employee benefits, services to youth and people living with AIDS, and whether or not the city had elected or appointed any openly LGBT officials.
Salt Lake City, St. Louis and Dayton all scored in the top 23, well ahead of the Queen City. But our town didn’t fare too badly. Charlotte got a ranking of 63, beating the national average of 59 and swamping North Carolina’s average score of 50. Our closest competitor was Durham, at 59. Cary, North Carolina scraped the bottom of the barrel with a dismal 36.
Charlotte scored highest in relationship recognition, which equals marriage, civil unions, or comprehensive domestic partnerships established by statute or case law, with 12 out of 12 points possible. We also earned 7 out of 8 points for relationship with the LGBT community and bonus points for having openly elected officials gay officials (thanks, LaWana!). Our worst category was for discriminatory laws, with a score of 0 out of a possible 18.
The 2014 MEI rated 60 more cities than in 2013, expanding their pool to include the 50 state capitals, the 150 largest cities in the United States, the three largest cities or municipalities in each state, the city home to the state’s largest public university (including undergraduate and graduate enrollment) and 75 cities and municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples.
The MEI is not a ranking of a city’s atmosphere or quality of life, but an evaluation of the city’s laws and policies and how they impact LGBT people. Some high-scoring cities may not feel truly welcoming for all LGBT people, and some low-scoring cities might feel more welcoming than the scores reflect. But one can safely assume no city in Gaston County was rated.
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