Mumford & Sons 1While everyone was busy arguing about the red light camera program being extended in Rochester, some news we should all be proud of got lost in the shuffle.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released its Municipal Equality Index for 2014. And Rochester scored 100 out of 100!

The MEI includes 353 cities from every state (there were only 60 cities in the 2013 rating). It “examines the laws, policies, and services of municipalities and rates them on the basis of their inclusivity of LGBT people who live and work there.”

How does Rochester compare to other NY cities?
NYC: 100
Syracuse: 85
Albany: 84
Buffalo: 7

Rochester has been more progressive than the country at large. Rochester was the first in the state to elect an openly gay person to public office in 1985 — Tim Mains. Mains served on City Council for 20 years. And the city is leading by equality example by implementing a trans-inclusive health coverage policy, which will go into effect January 1, 2015.

This city’s respect for letting people be who they are is one of the things I love about living here. Every summer, the Pride Parade lines up on our street and our kids see first-hand that we should all celebrate being who we are. And when we attended a wedding of two male friends, our kids and their friends didn’t even bat an eye. Maybe soon it will be like that everywhere across the country.

Rochester’s score is worth celebrating! Is there more work to do? Absolutely. But this is the kind of good news we should promote about our city! Hopefully someday soon we won’t need to rate cities on equality; it will just be common sense.

I’m not sure you heard me the first time, so I’ll say it again. Rochester scored 100 out of 100. 🙂

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Written by: Renee
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