City of Erie earns perfect score of 100 on Human Rights Campaign's 2025 Municipal Equality Index

The City of Erie has again earned a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign's 2025 Municipal Equality Index (MEI). This is the fourth year in a row that Erie has achieved a perfect score.

The MEI is a nationwide evaluation of 506 cities that examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people who live and work there. The 2025 MEI is the thirteenth annual edition and rates cities from every state in the nation on 49 different criteria. Cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality. Cities are rated on a scale of 0-100, with scoring done on 100 standard points and 22 flex points. The flex points are awarded for items which apply to some but not all cities. The maximum score is 100 points.

Erie was first scored a 57 by the MEI in 2015. In the following years, Erie scored 39 in both 2016 and 2017.

When Mayor Joe Schember took office in 2018, he and his team concentrated on implementing non-discrimination policies to eliminate prejudice and make Erie a more welcoming and supportive community for all LGBTQ+ people. He formed the City's first LGBTQ+ Advisory Council and set about examining City policies, with a goal of making changes to support the LGBTQ+ community. As a result of this work, the City scored a 50 in 2018, 75 in 2019, 80 in 2020, and 86 in 2021, finally achieving its first perfect score in 2022.

In addition to the City of Erie's perfect score of 100, the City also received 9 bonus (or flex) points for its ordinance banning Conversion Therapy and its youth bullying prevention policy for City Services, and for providing services to/supporting people living with HIV or AIDS, having openly LGBTQ+ elected or appointed municipal leaders, and testing the limits of restrictive State law, securing a total of 109 points.

Mayor Joe Schember said, "The City of Erie is committed to creating a welcoming environment. Diversity is one of Erie's greatest strengths. When everyone feels supported, welcomed, and valued for their unique skills, perspectives, and talents, this empowers people to thrive and contribute to our sense of community. Achieving and maintaining this perfect score was the result of much hard work by my team and our LGBTQ+ Advisory Council. Our policies and practices continue to help us achieve this perfect score. This is one of the ways in which we strive to make Erie an inclusive place to live, work, play, and raise a family."

To learn more about the Mayor's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council and the Municipal Equality Index, please visit LGBTQ+ Council - Erie, PA.

For more information about the Municipal Equality Index, please visit www.hrc.org/MEI.