HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia cities of Huntington and Charleston were honored Thursday by a national organization for efforts on LGBTQ inclusion.
Human Rights Campaign Foundation released its 2020 Index Rating for municipalities across the United States on LGBTQ inclusion and West Virginia’s two most populous cities scored over 85.
The City of Huntington received a score of 100 in a scorecard that looks into non-discrimination laws, municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ equality.
The score for Huntington has more than doubled since 2013, the year Steve Williams first took office as mayor. He told the crowd that tuned into the ceremony that the score in the 40s when he arrived bothered him immensely because he knew his community was better than that.
“Huntington should prove to everyone how quickly progress can be made,” Andrew Schneider, executive director of Fairness West Virginia said on Thursday.
“It’s score this year is more than double of what it was six years ago. I hope the entire state of West Virginia takes inspiration from this achievement.”
Williams credits two movements in the city for the improvement on inclusion, the creation of two committees and an ‘Open to All’ campaign. An advisory committee on LGBTQ issues and an advisory committee on diversity began to meet under Williams.
The mayor also noted that over 300 Huntington entities including businesses, churches, groups, and institutions have participated in the ‘Open to All’ campaign. He said others have reached out from around the region to join in.
“To be able to make a statement saying ‘we are open to all, that is space is a safe space where everyone is welcome,'” Williams said.
Schneider said Huntington’s campaign has shown the importance of diversity in the workplace.
“We’ve known for a long time that one key to the successes of fortune 500 companies is diversity. This campaign showed that diversity is good for small businesses, too,” he said.
The City of Charleston finished with a score of 92, which is well above the average of cities in West Virginia with 62 out of 100 points. The national average for a municipality is 64.
The national city score average jumped to an all-time high of 64 points, up from 60 last year, marking both the fourth consecutive year of national average increases as well as the highest year-over-year national average growth ever, the release said.
“These All-Star cities are blazing the path forward for equality and fighting back against extreme unrelenting attacks on the LGBTQ community. These cities are sending a strong message that our lives, our families and our community are valuable and valued,” said Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign in a release.
The full report, including detailed scorecards for every city, as well as a searchable database, is available online at www.hrc.org/mei.
Story by Jake Flatley