The Trenton Times published the following article on November 19, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Scorecard ranks Trenton the least gay-friendly city in N.J., while Jersey City earns perfect score
By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton
on November 19, 2013 at 2:14 PM, updated November 19, 2013 at 2:37 PMTRENTON – Trenton was scored the least gay-friendly city in the state, while Jersey City earned the top score, according to a report released today by Human Rights Campaign.
The civil rights organization for lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender equality rated 291 cities in the country, including eight in New Jersey.
Trenton received 57 points out of the possible 100 points, below the national average.
The state’s highest ranking city – Jersey City was one of 25 municipalities to receive a perfect score. Lambertville and Newark both earned a score of 76 points, New Brunswick and Ocean Grove tallied 77, and Patterson racked up 60 points. Asbury Park came in just above the capital city with 59 points.
The score card, called the Municipal Equality Index, is looking at the inclusion of LGBT individuals in municipal law. They rated each city on the policies including non-discrimination laws, city services offered to the LGBT community, relationship recognition, law enforcement and municipal leadership on matters of equality and equal employee benefits for LGBT municipal employees.