City Scored 100 On 2025 Municipal Equality Index By Human Rights Campaign: Mayor

NEW HAVEN, CT —Wednesday, Mayor Justin Elicker was joined by LGBTQ+ leaders to celebrate the City's score of 100 on the 2025 Municipal Equality Index.

The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality's role as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality, as noted on the website.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization and the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. As part of its work, the HRC Foundation conducts the MEI, which was released nationally on Tuesday.

The MEI “examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there.” This is the HRC Foundation’s fourteenth annual edition and it rates a total of 506 cities from every state in the nation on 49 different criteria.

This is New Haven's second consecutive year receiving a MEI score of 100 — the highest score that can be received by a municipality — and this year the city has the "added distinction of being one of four spotlighted cities in MEI report."