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Tennessee cities continue to lag when it comes to LGBTQ protections. That’s according to the latest Municipal Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign.
Nashville is the only Tennessee city rated above the national average. The city scored particularly high because of the way it treats its LGBTQ employees and the services it offers.
But it still has room for improvement — especially when it comes to providing resources to transgender residents.
City government doesn’t offer transgender-inclusive health care benefits — an issue highlighted last month by Metro Human Relations. And they lost points for not having programming specifically for the transgender community and older LGBTQ adults.
The Human Rights Campaign says the city’s scores are also held back by restrictive Tennessee laws which prohibit non-discrimination ordinances for private employers.
“Cities with a dedication to equality that are in Tennessee and North Carolina, for example, will never be able to score as well as cities with comparable dedication to equality that exist in states without the restrictive laws,” the report reads.
Murfreesboro, Franklin and Johnson City ranked the lowest in the state. And while the scores of cities like Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis have remained steady since last year, Chattanooga and Clarksville both showed improvement toward LGBTQ equality.