The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an educational entity of the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, released its 2023 Municipal Equality Index (MEI) Scorecard rating the City of Cathedral City with a perfect score of 100. This is the highest recognition by HRC and comes after a thorough review of Cathedral City policies and practices including having 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 based on their inclusivity of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there. HRC’s Scorecard rated 506 municipalities throughout the United States with at least one municipality in each of the 50 states.
“We’re incredibly honored to receive another perfect score from HRC’s Municipal Equality Index,” said City Manager Charlie McClendon. “This is validation of Cathedral City’s continued commitment to equity, inclusivity and equality, and I’m deeply proud that Cathedral City has a long history of providing a safe and welcoming community for LGBTQ+ residents to live, work, and enjoy so many wonderful community events.”
The City Council of Cathedral City continues to be supportive of the LGBTQ+ community by hosting Cathedral City LGBT Days each year in March as one of the City’s signature events. Cathedral City was also the first city in the Coachella Valley to pass a municipal ordinance mandating single stall public restrooms to be re-classified as “gender-neutral,” fly a rainbow flag at City Hall, and create a “Rainbow Crossing” named after the late Mayor Gregory S. Pettis, the first openly gay elected official in Riverside County.
You can read the full report here on the Human Rights Campaign’s website.
