Paradegoers carry a huge rainbow flag past city hall on Lakeside Avenue during a Cleveland Pride Parade. CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sometimes those fantastic attention-grabbing claims can crack me up. “Best in Class!” “America’s Favorite.” “Number One!” They all make me ask, “Says who?”
Well, over the last decade or so, municipalities have begun to understand how much people and companies value diversity, inclusion and equality, and the MEI has helped them get there. The 2022 MEI looked at 506 cities of various sizes from all 50 states. Sounds like a lot, but according to 2018 statistics, there are 4,727 municipalities with populations greater than 5,000 throughout our country. Still, the 506 cities allow the HRC to identify regional changes and monitor the growth of equality, state by state, across our country.
To be clear, the MEI focuses on municipal and state policies, laws and services, not the daily lived experience of LGBTQ+ individuals. No, it can’t measure everything. But the scorecards cover topics that affect daily life.
It’s amazing any of our cities can get such high scores when Ohio lacks statewide LGBTQ+ protections for employment, housing and access to public services, and has no ban on conversion therapy, a modern day torture practice. Plus, our state leaders continue to make ill-informed decisions that hurt the LGBTQ+ community. For example, the Ohio Board of Education recently voted to reject the new federal expansion of Title IX to include orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
When I reviewed Cleveland’s scorecard, I saw lots of good stuff – the recent city council-approved ban on youth conversion therapy, nondiscrimination laws regarding housing and employment, and city-backed services for senior LGBTQ+ folks and those living with AIDS. But there are troubling gaps.
Sexuality isn't supposed to be all inclusive or a community.... So where does the grooming end ...sounds like an organization,sorority or fraternal order at the least...
Since when is perverted sex considered a right?
What is the obsession with parading through the streets telling everyone you like to stick things up your ass...