Lexington receives record-high score for LGBTQ rights. 2 Kentucky cities score higher
Lexington has received an all-time high score of 95 out of 100 from the Human Rights Campaign, a national civil rights organization, for its laws to protect and support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
The city has raised its score by six points since January 2019.
“We purposely worked to increase our Human Rights Campaign equality score,” said Mayor Linda Gorton. “I am very proud of this movement forward in doing what’s right for our LGBTQ community.”
The Human Rights Campaign scores cities based on laws, policies, services and programs for the LBGTQ community. Lexington received high marks despite Kentucky not having an LGBTQ non-discrimination law.
The Human Rights Campaign evaluated 506 cities across the country.
Louisville received a perfect score of 100. Louisville scored higher for providing transgender health benefits and having policies that discourage discrimination by city contractors, according to the Human Rights Campaign scoring matrix.
Other cities in Kentucky to be evaluated include Berea, Bowling Green, Covington, Frankfort, Morehead and Owensboro. Covington also edged out Lexington with a score of 96. The lowest scoring Kentucky city was Owensboro with 18.
To read the scores, go to www.hrc.org/mei.
In 2019, Gorton created a work group to review the Human Rights Campaign score and provide recommendations on how Lexington can improve in future years.
“The importance of the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index Score can’t be overstated,” said Craig Cammack, the mayor’s LGBTQ liaison. “It is used by businesses, travelers and others to determine if they should visit or relocate to Lexington. By having a higher score, we can show our commitment to fairness and attract new businesses and visitors.”
Cammack said the city had worked directly with Human Rights Campaign over the past two years to showcase the city’s programs that affect the LGBTQ community. It has also updated purchasing policies and has a dedicated LGBTQ liaison in the mayor’s office and the police department, which helped Lexington increase its score, he said.
The work group will be looking at the 2020 score to determine how it can reach 100, Cammack said.
“A few things the city is looking into is providing transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits and protecting youth from conversion therapy,” Cammack said.
State legislation banning conversion therapy statewide has stalled in the General Assembly.
The Human Rights Campaign has evaluated Lexington since 2013. The city has increased its score over that time period from 53 to 95.
Lexington was the first city in Kentucky to enact a fairness ordinance protecting LGBTQ individuals. There are now 20 other cities in Kentucky with fairness ordinances.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 11:20 AM.
