Fulop Administration Earns Perfect Score for Equality & LGBTQ+ Rights for 11th Consecutive Year
Jersey City Earns 100/100 in Nationwide Evaluation of LGBTQ+ Policies and Services by the Human Rights Campaign
JERSEY CITY, NJ – For the 11th consecutive year, Mayor Steven M. Fulop is proud to announce Jersey City has, once again, earned a perfect score from the nationwide 2023 Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI), citing the administrative efforts to create an inclusive and welcoming community where every LGBTQ+ residents, employee, and visitor can thrive.
“To achieve a perfect score in LGBTQ+ rights 11 years in a row is a testament to our unwavering dedication towards establishing equality for all,” said Mayor Fulop. “Every person deserves equal rights and equal opportunity, and as one of the most diverse cities in the nation, Jersey City is proudly leading by example.”
MEI is the only nationwide evaluation of LGBTQ+ equality regarding municipal policies, laws, and services in over 500 cities. As a result of the Fulop Administration’s decisive steps to safeguard our large LGBTQ+ community, Jersey City earned a final score of 100 out of 100 in all 5 categories:
- Non-Discrimination Laws
- Municipality as Employer
- Municipal Services
- Law Enforcement
- Leadership on LGBTQ+ Equality
Mayor Fulop has long supported LGBTQ+ rights. He even became a public advocate for marriage equality well before it became legal. In 2013, just 3 months into the Fulop Administration, Jersey City became one of the first in New Jersey to issue licenses and perform same-sex weddings. Just last month, Jersey City celebrated 10 years of marriage equality.
To take the City’s equality efforts a step further, the Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Task Force was established in 2014 to ensure equal opportunity for our diverse population, workforce, and business sector. The following year, Mayor Fulop announced the City’s first-ever transgender-related healthcare coverage.
The annual Pride event and other important initiatives have catapulted Jersey City to the top of most gay-friendly lists, consistently outranking places such as New York City and San Francisco. Earlier this year, the award-winning documentary “Strength through Visibility” was released to mark 20 years of Pride in Jersey City.
“No other Mayor or public official has committed to promoting equality and LGBTQ+ rights as much as Mayor Fulop has over the past decade, and it is felt beyond our LGBTQ+ community to encourage inclusivity among people of all races, religions, socioeconomic status, and so on,” added Jeana Abuan, Coordinator for the Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Task Force. “Our task force works in close collaboration with our community partners for the continued advancement of vital LGBTQ+ programs and equality initiatives.”
The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are for LGBTQ+ people who live and work there. Cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.
“Even when anti-LGBTQ+ extremists in state capitals are working to undermine their progress, mayors and city councilmembers keep fighting to make sure that LGBTQ+ people in their communities - especially trans people - are supported and lifted up to the fullest extent possible. This year’s Municipal Equality Index shows the results of their dedication while acknowledging the increasingly hostile environment in which they must govern,” Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement with the release of the MEI results.
The full MEI report is available online at www.hrc.org/mei.
All media inquiries should be directed to Kimberly Scalcione at [email protected].