City of Hollywood Earns Perfect Score in 2022 LGBTQ+ Municipal Equality Index
By the City of Hollywood
The 2022 MEI rated 506 municipalities of varying sizes drawn from every state in the nation.
The City of Hollywood earned a perfect score of 100, plus earned 9 additional flex points on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s 2022 Municipal Equality Index (MEI) for having programs and policies that are inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community. Cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and leadership on LGBTQ+ equity. View Hollywood’s scorecard here.
The City of Hollywood joins 118 other cities across the U.S. that earned perfect scores. In South Florida, the City of Hollywood joins Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. View all scorecards here.
The HRC scored the City on LGBTQ+ focused activities in five categories – non-discrimination laws, municipality as employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality. Examples of City initiatives that contributed to the perfect MEI score include:
- In celebration of scoring our first ever 100 on the MEI Scorecard, the City of Hollywood sponsored the Hollywood LBGTQ Council’s first Pride Street Festival in downtown Hollywood in early 2022. Several dignitaries and elected officials. were in attendance which included an opening ceremony, Flag Raising and Pride Brunch among other event activities.
- Issued a Proclamation in Recognition of Pride Month and held a Progress Pride flag raising ceremony at City Hall. The flag flew over City Hall for the month of June.
- Provided funding for organizations that serve LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.
- Information on Lesbian Visibility Day, and National Transgender HIV Testing Day shared and posted on the City’s main social media accounts.
- Launched a LGBTQ+ Ally Program for City employees, with 20 earning their Ally certificate. To become an ally, employees must watch the 20-minute documentary called “Open Dialogues: Stories from the LGBTQ Community” provided by the Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, view a 24-minute “Become an Ally – LGBTQIA+” video presentation, and attend a 3-hour LGBTQ 101 Proficiency and Workplace Bias Training with Misty “Eyez” Alicea, Director of Women’s Services, Transgender Service & Training Service at SunServe. To date, 35 employees have attended LGBTQ 101 Proficiency training.
Municipalities were rated on criteria covering citywide non-discrimination protections, policies for municipal employees, city services, law enforcement, and the city’s leadership on LGBTQ+ equality. This year, a record-breaking 118 cities earned the highest score of 100. In addition to the 100 standard points, 22 flex points were also available for essential programs, protections, or benefits that were not easily attainable.
