The Human Rights Campaign released the 2022 Municipal Equality Index, and San Diego is on the list. How did we score?
Each year, the Human Rights Campaign releases a Municipal Equality Index which takes a deep dive into municipal laws, policies, and services and how inclusive they are of LGBTQ+ people. This year’s edition examined 506 cities on 49 different criteria across four categories — non-discrimination laws, municipality as employer, services and programs, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.
Based on these criteria, San Diego earned a score of 100 out of 100. A perfect score. Here’s a breakdown of how we got here… and how we can go even further.
Non-discrimination laws
This category looks at whether LGBTQ+ discrimination is prohibited by law in areas of employment, housing, and public accommodation. San Diego achieved a 30 out of 30 for our laws across the state, county, and municipality.
Municipality as employer
Cities can achieve points for inclusive employment policies like trans-inclusive healthcare policies and non-discrimination in city employment. San Diego got a 28 out of 28, and earned bonus points for city employee domestic partner benefits.
A past San Diego Pride parade in Hillcrest.
Photo via San Diego Pride
Services and programs
This section considers the city’s efforts to include LGBTQ+ folks in city services and programs. San Diego scored 7 out of 12, but got bonus points for city-offered services to LGBTQ+ youths and older adults.
Law enforcement
Looking at the relationship between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community, San Diego earned 22 out of 22.
Leadership on LGBTQ+ equality
This section looks at city leadership’s commitment to advocacy and inclusion. San Diego got an 8 out of 8, and got bonus points for having openly LGBTQ+ elected or appointed
leaders.
Other studies like this
The HRC isn’t the only organization tracking San Diego’s inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. Explore these studies for comparison:
- Campus Pride Index, which awarded San Diego State University a 5 out of 5 score for its inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Equality California Institute’s Safe and Supportive Schools Report Card, which gave high marks to the Oceanside and San Diego Unified School districts.
- The adult lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer population in San Diego County.
Where we can improve
Even a perfect score doesn’t mean a perfect city. San Diego earned its perfect score with bonus points and would achieve a higher score from the HRC with efforts like having an LGBTQ+ liaison in the city executive’s office and offering services to the transgender community and LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness.
If you want to get involved, here are some local organizations that support the LGBTQ+ community.
- The San Diego LGBT Community Center
- San Diego Pride
- Lambda Archives of San Diego
- TransFamily Support Services
- Gay for Good
How do you think we could make our community more welcoming to all? Let us know.
