Cathedral City Receives a Perfect Score from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipal Equality Index for Third Year
Cathedral City is 1 of 68 municipalities in the U.S. to receive the highest rating.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, an educational entity of the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, released today its annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI) Scorecard rating the City of Cathedral City with a perfect score of 100. This is the third year in a row that Cathedral City has received HRC’s highest recognition. Cathedral City is also one of only 68 cities in the U.S. to have both a police department liaison as well as a city executive officer liaison for the LGBTQ community.
The MEI scorecard examined the laws, policies, and services of municipalities and rated them on the basis of their inclusivity of LGBTQ people who live and work there. The HRC Foundation’s Scorecard rated 506 municipalities throughout the United States with at least one municipality in each of the 50 states. Cathedral City was one of only 68 municipalities in the nation to receive a perfect score. Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City’s adjacent neighbors, were the only other cities in the Coachella Valley to receive a perfect score out of the nine Valley cities.
The LGBT population within Cathedral City continues to increase in size as recent studies estimate that nearly 30% of Cathedral City residents identify themselves as being part of the LGBTQ community. Notably, three of Cathedral City’s five members of council identify themselves as being part of the LGBTQ community. Cathedral City’s Council has been supportive by hosting the Cathedral City LGBT Days festival during the last weekend in March as one of the City’s signature events. It was also the first city in the Valley to pass an ordinance mandating single stall public restrooms in Cathedral City to be re-labeled as “gender-neutral.”
Today’s announcement affirms that Cathedral City continues to be a community that values equality and offers one more reason to be proud of the place our residents call home.
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