Baltimore earned high marks for the rights and inclusion of its lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual residents from the Human Rights Campaign in the advocacy organization's annual analysis.
Baltimore was one of 47 cities to earn the top score of 100 in this year's Municipal Equality Index. The report, which was released last week, evaluated the LGBT equality in 408 cities across the country based on criteria in five categories: nondiscrimination laws, municipal employment policies, inclusiveness of city services, law enforcement and municipal leaders' relationship with the LGBT community.
Though Baltimore lost points for not having transgender-inclusive health benefits for city employees, it picked up bonus points in several other categories, such as having elected or appointed leaders who are openly gay and offering services to LGBT youth, homeless and elderly.
Baltimore scored the highest among the eight cities in Maryland the HRC evaluated. Towson was next on the list, with a score of 89. Bowie's score of 54 was the lowest among Maryland cities included in the index.
You can see the complete findings of the index here.
