Every year, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) ranks each city in the United States based on how inclusive they are of their LGBT population. They look at everything from non-discrimination laws, employment policies, inclusiveness of city services and law enforcement, and rate them all using the Municipal Equality Index (MEI).
What has been recorded this year is a major historic benchmark — since 2012, the number of cities that got perfect scores on the MEI scale has quadrupled. That means that 47 cities in this country are 100 percent standing behind the LGBT community. Here’s a list of those cities by state so you can see which ones are the most LGBT-friendly places to live.
Arizona
Arizona’s perfect MEI scorers are Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson.
California
California had several: Cathedral City, Long Beach, LA, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Fran, San Jose and West Hollywood.
Florida
Orlando, the city that’s home to Disney World, scored 100, as did St. Petersburg and Wilton Manors.
Georgia
Only Georgia’s biggest city, Atlanta, made the top 47.
Illinois
You know our president’s hometown of Chicago was in there.
Indiana
While not known as a liberal state, Indiana at least got Bloomington into the top 47.
Iowa
Blue state Iowa had two top scorers: Davenport and Iowa City.
Kentucky
Louisville is also now known for it’s appreciation of the LGBT community.
Maryland
Baltimore was the only city in costal Maryland that made the cut.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts had three cities: Boston, Cambridge and Worchester.
Michigan
Detroit and East Lansing likely made the list for their burgeoning populations of young artists and professionals.
Minnesota
Minneapolis and St. Paul are huge cultural epicenters, as well as home to some powerful gay rights groups.
Missouri
Of course, St. Louis, the progressive gateway to the West, represented. As did Kansas City.
Montana
Missoula’s leftist politics often put it at odds with the rest of the state of Montana.
Nevada
Las Vegas. Duh.
New Jersey
Jersey City nabbed a perfect score likely because the majority of its population was transplanted from Manhattan.
New York
New York City was a no-brainer, but Yonkers and Rochester also hopped on the LGBT bandwagon this year.
Ohio
Ohio’s always been a waffling state in these matters, but Cincinnati and Columbus are joining the pro LGBT ranks.
Oregon
Portland. Enough said.
Philadelphia
They don’t call Philadelphia the city of brotherly love for nothing.
Rhode Island
Providence is yet another supremely liberal state keeping things LGBT-friendly.
Texas
While the majority of the state is pretty anti-LGBT, both Austin and Dallas stand proudly for it.
Washington
Seattle, Bellavue and Olympia stand strong for LGBT rights in this state.
Wisconsin
And finally Madison, Wisconsin. A city with its own capital building has to be advocating for some political progress.
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