MS Coast fails Human Rights Campaign’s LGBTQ+ inclusion index. Advocates caution visitors
As pride month kicks off, advocates caution members of the LGBTQ+ community visiting Mississippi’s Gulf Coast to be wary of an environment that, while usually not outwardly hostile, lacks legal protections and legitimate measures for LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ lobbying group, ranked four cities along the Mississippi Coast using its Municipal Equality Index, an index designed to describe the inclusivity of city laws and policies toward LGBTQ+ people in the form of an out-of-100 rating.
Four Coast cities were scored: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Ocean Springs.
Not only did all of these cities receive failing grades, all cities’ scores fell since the last time Sun Herald reported on the Index, nearly two years ago.
Rob Hill, Mississippi’s director for the Jackson-based campaign, said city officials are made aware of their region’s scores and told how they can improve them before the campaign publicizes a grade.
He said that despite the lack of legal protections and efforts proposed by the cities and their lawmakers, he said the campaign recognizes the strives in LGBTQ+ inclusivity made by local corporations.
“There are places on the Gulf Coast where employees are impacted by positive policies, like Beau Rivage, Chevron or Ingalls, and the people who visit there,” Hill said.
The term indifference is used to describe the atmosphere.
“I’ve met with elected officials and they’d say, ‘We’d love everybody to come to the Coast. We want everyone to spend their money here.’ But unfortunately, policies are not on the books,” Hill said. “The laws don’t back up the welcoming attitude.”
For example, he said, those policies could manifest as things like non-discrimination ordinance, that would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in employment, housing and public accommodation, like at restaurants or hotels.
Scores of the Municipal Equality Index are designed to quantify how comfortable visitors would feel visiting there relative to other places.
Other Mississippi cities around the state have enacted policies like that, Hill said, just none on the Gulf Coast. Jackson and, to a lesser degree, Hattiesburg are cities with some protections in place, the campaign’s website shows.
Hill believes if the Coast prioritizes moving these LGBTQ+ inclusion and protection policies forward, Coast cities’ index scores will rise and see more of its LGBTQ+ community.
“We have all this negativity that we have to conquer in order to be stronger,” said Hunter Paige, secretary for the Gulf Coast Association of Pride and a lifelong Coast resident.
The association is the Coast’s premier LGBTQ+ nonprofit, in terms of the size of membership and for providing resources, he said.
Paige said he’s not surprised by the low scores Coast cities scored on the index.
He notes that a number of state-level anti-LGBTQ+ policies were proposed and passed recently, targeting members of the community, especially its youth.
“I’m 100% going to support our Coast, and 100% going to support our community, so I urge everyone to come and visit,” Paige said, “However, I will put a warning out for our LGBTQ+ people, if they want to come here just have caution. There’s a lot of hate here.”
There’s a lot of people out here trying to scare LGBTQ+ people, he said, but they’re not out to harm them.
Paige thinks the Coast has flatlined in progress toward creating a more inclusive space, but said it doesn’t seem to be getting worse.
Retailers’ shallow attempts at being inclusive, especially during pride month, used to turn heads, Paige said, but that these days, folks have grown more apt to completely ignore that.
Still, Paige said, the Coast’s LGBTQ+ community is strong and growing. He said the association will continue trying to assert itself as a safe space and that with or without help, it’ll most likely continue growing.
“I hope that being yourself can just be a normal thing,” Paige said.
How Coast cities scored
The index calculates a score based off of five categories:
Non-discrimination laws: This classifies discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and if it’s protected by the city, county or state as it relates to employment, housing and public accommodation. 30 points are available.
Municipality as employer: This category looks at if equivalent benefits and protections are offered to LGBTQ+ employees and that the workplace is inclusive. 28 points are available
Municipal services: This category that looks at the city’s efforts to ensure LGBTQ+ residents are included in the services and programs. 12 points are available
Law enforcement: This category looks at if laws are policed fairly, respectful engagement with LGBTQ+ community members and reporting hate crimes. 22 points are available
Leadership on LGBTQ+ equality: This category is scored based on city leadership’s ability to fairly include LGBTQ+ members of the community and advocate on their behalf. 8 points are available
The overall score is the combination of those others. These scores are not weighted, or ranked against other cities.
Bay St. Louis score is 0/100 overall.
Bay St. Louis scores 0/30 for non-discrimination laws;
In Municipality as Employer, a 0/28;
In Municipal Services, a 0/12;
In Law Enforcement, a 0/22;
And Leadership on LGBTQ+ Equality, a 0/8.
Gulfport’s overall score was 12/100.
Gulfport has a 0/30 in non-discrimination laws;
In Municipality as Employer, a 0/28;
In Municipal Services, a 0/12;
In Law Enforcement, a 12/22;
In Leadership on LGBTQ+ Equality, a 0/8.
Biloxi’s overall score came out at 26/100.
In non-discrimination laws within the city, Biloxi has a score of 0/30;
In Municipality as Employer, a 14/28;
In Municipal Services, a 0/12;
In Law Enforcement, a 12/22;
And in Leadership on LGBTQ+ Equality, a 0/8.
Biloxi was the highest scoring of Mississippi’s coastal cities.
Ocean Springs has an overall score of 0/100.
Ocean Springs receives a 0/30 in non-discrimination laws;
In Municipality as Employer, a 0/28;
In Municipal Services, a 0/12;
In Law Enforcement, a 0/22;
In Leadership on LGBTQ+ Equality, a 0/8.
How the rest of Mississippi scored
Jackson has a score of 79/100.
Hattiesburg has a score of 36/100.
Starkville has a score of 32/100.
Oxford has a score of 15/100.
Southaven has a score of 12/100.
This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
