EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation; the educational arm of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization; in partnership with the Equality Federation Institute, has given the City of East Lansing a perfect score of 100 points on its 2017 Municipal Equality Index (MEI) scorecard.
The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies and services are of LGBTQ people. Cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and a city’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.
The MEI assesses LGBTQ equality in 506 cities across the nation, including 11 cities in Michigan. Ann Arbor, Detroit and Ferndale also received a perfect score of 100 points this year. The average score for cities in Michigan is 71, which falls above the national average of 57.
"The City of East Lansing prides itself on its diverse population and long history of inclusive policies and practices,” said East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows. "We are extremely honored to have earned a perfect MEI score once again this year and we plan to continue to uphold the services, laws, programs and practices that helped us to attain that score.”
The full report, including detailed scorecards for every city as well as a searchable database, is available online at www.hrc.org/mei. View East Lansing’s scorecard here.