Mayor Joe Schember on the LGBTQIA+ Community

Since I took office in 2018, my team and I have been on a Mission to Build Opportunity, Restore Hope, and Transform Erie. We have also been working hard to achieve our Vision. One element of that Vision is that we celebrate our rich cultural diversity. An important piece of that is ensuring that everyone feels welcomed and valued. Imagine what an incredible community we would have if everyone felt celebrated for the unique skills, talents, and perspectives that each one of us possesses regardless of who we love or how we identify or express ourselves.

My team and I have made it a priority to enact policies that are inclusive of all of our residents, including all who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. One measure of the city's progress and success in this area is the Human Rights Campaign's annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI). When I first took office, the city's score was only 34. I am happy to report that the city has received a perfect score (100 points) for the last three years, 2022-2024.

Through much deliberation and analysis of city laws and policies, my team and I, including the members of the City's first LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, were able to increase these scores in the following years, first to 50 in 2018, then to 75 in 2019, 80 in 2020, 86 in 2021, and finally achieving perfect scores in each of the last three years.

The first area we tackled was the "Municipality as Employer" section, on which Erie scored 0 out of 24 possible points in 2017. We were able to turn this score completely around by adopting a non-discrimination policy in City government, providing transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, adopting a city contractor non-discrimination ordinance, and creating an inclusive workplace.

The second great area of improvement was achieved under "Law Enforcement" by creating an LGBTQ+ Liaison in the Erie Police Department and reporting Hate Crimes Statistics on an annual basis to the F.B.I. Fulfilling these requirements allowed the City to gain an additional 22 points on the way to an overall perfect score.

The City of Erie also received bonus points for its Conversion Therapy Ban, our youth bullying prevention policy, and testing the limits of restrictive state laws.

The City of Erie has made great progress over the last seven years on our municipal policies, laws, and ordinances as reflected in our improved MEI Score. In fact, with all of our bonus points, our total score was 111 in 2024, but 100 is the maximum number of points awarded.

My team and I will continue to work on policies and initiatives to advance equity, equality, and inclusion of our LGBTQIA+ community members.