Laramie ranked most inclusive local government in Wyoming
The Human Rights Campaign recognized city efforts to foster inclusivity in its annual Municipality Equality Index. City officials and PrideFest organizers say there’s still work to do.
Laramie forbids anti-LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Its government has established positions to handle or advance LGBTQ affairs. And its leaders demonstrate a clear pro-equality stance through their annual Pride Month proclamation.
For these and other achievements, the Human Rights Campaign awarded Laramie a score of 89 (out of 100) on the 2023 Municipality Equality Index.
Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director for the Human Rights Campaign, said the index measures how well cities incorporate the needs of their queer residents into their laws, policies and city services.
“The idea is to be able to highlight the cities that are doing a really great job on those issues,” Oakley said. “And then to the cities that still have some room to grow, giving them what is basically a to-do list.”
Oakley said taking a city-level view is all the more important in light of growing state-level attacks on the rights of transgender and other queer Americans.
“One of the important trends that the MEI has captured is that these cities — the folks who are the government closest to the people and to the community — these cities are making a different choice,” she said. “These cities are leaning in, learning about how they can do better by the LGBTQ community, and then doing it. And that's happening in states all across the country, including in states where the legislatures have been taking the opposite kind of action.”
This is the exact dynamic playing out in Wyoming and in Laramie. In 2023, state lawmakers passed the first anti-LGBTQ bill in nearly half a century. At least three other anti-LGBTQ bills advanced some way through the legislature, and some of those will be tried again.
But in Laramie — a town haunted by America’s most infamous anti-gay hate crime — the culture has been moving in a different direction. That shift is reflected in the continued success of Laramie PrideFest, the LGBTQ community’s annual gathering that is equal parts celebration and memorial.
PrideFest organizers are excited by Laramie’s “all-star” score on the national Municipal Equality Index.
“I actually was very pleased to see a score of 89,” said PrideFest Chair Nicholas Jesse. “Obviously, that score indicates that there's still some work in certain places that still needs to be done. But overall, I think for Wyoming it's nice to see that score because it clearly indicates that Laramie as a city is willing to lead the way.”
Laramie PrideFest celebrated its seventh year this past summer, hosting more events and more participants than ever before. The groundswell of acceptance that has powered PrideFest’s success has inspired changes at the city level too. Many of the same activists who got PrideFest up and running fought for the non-discrimination ordinance in 2015, and a critical element of PrideFest’s annual return is the reading of a Pride Month proclamation during a city council meeting in June.
These efforts have won the city a reputation for inclusivity and acceptance. Jesse said the city should now press its advantage and shoot for an even higher score next year.
“Laramie is very lucky and unique to have the representation that we have that actually wants to sit down and listen to us,” he said. “If there are ways to improve, we can't sit around and stay silent. We’ve got to continue to engage with our community leaders, even when it's uncomfortable.”
Laramie’s score jumps 19 points from last year
Laramie was one of seven cities in Wyoming — and one of 500 cities nationally — to be ranked on the Human Rights Campaign’s index. Laramie’s score of 89 stands head and shoulders above the next highest Wyoming city, Casper, which earned a 72. And it towers over the state’s only other blue city, Jackson, which earned a 62.
Laramie’s score is also significantly higher than its own score just last year. The 2023 index saw the Gem City jump 19 points from 2022. That sharp rise mostly came from the appointment of an LGBTQ liaison in the Laramie Police Department (10 points) and from the passage of a city contractor non-discrimination rule (6 points).
“It is rewarding to see the efforts of the City of Laramie be reflected in this score,” Mayor Brian Harrington says in a news release. “The council broadly understands the critical relationship between folks feeling supported by their community and the overall vibrancy of our city. We will continue to work to provide the highest quality of life possible for all our residents."
It’s important to note, Oakley said, that the index is focused solely on local government and not, for example, the well-being of the local LGBTQ community. It’s still possible to experience discrimination in a city with a perfect score, just as it’s still possible to live a happy, open life in a city that scored zilch.
“The MEI is not about quality of life,” Oakley said. “It's really about the laws and policies.”
But those two aspects of queer life — a community’s level of tolerance and the local government’s commitment to non-discrimination — are not totally separate. Ideally, the index demonstrates where government leaders are doing what they can to foster and endorse tolerance.
“One of the things that we hear city leaders talk about all the time is this idea that they want their city to be welcoming,” Oakley said. “And that in order to have people invest in a future in that city, they have to feel welcome, they have to feel included, they have to feel at home.”
The equality index directs city focus
Nancy Oakland-Potter serves as Laramie’s LGBTQ+ Liaison in the city manager’s office. In that role, she oversees the enforcement of the non-discrimination ordinance passed by the Laramie City Council in 2015.
Enforcement is complaint-based, just like the city’s rental regulations, and filed complaints go through Oakland-Potter’s desk on their way to the city manager or other investigator. As liaison, Oakland-Potter can also help you fill out and properly submit a complaint.
“I would like to think that I have been able to provide complainants with a sense of relief knowing that their situation will be handled appropriately and without further anguish,” Oakland-Potter said. “To be a liaison, one must show compassion and care for those experiencing various disparaging circumstances.”
Laramie earned 30 points with the establishment of its non-discrimination ordinance, ten points for each area the protections cover — employment, housing and public accommodations. Establishing Oakland-Potter’s position immediately netted the city another five points, and in that position, Oakland-Potter aims to earn the city more. She reviews the Municipality Equality Index each year and then works with staff on areas where the city can improve.
The most significant leap the city made this year — as measured by points on the equality index — was the establishment of another liaison, this time in the Laramie Police Department. Officer Sadie Wenzel now serves in that role.
But with 11 points still on the table, and plenty of “flex points” Laramie could pick up as well, city staff already have plans in place to boost the city’s score before the next index is published.
Establishing a city human rights commission
Most significantly, Oakland-Potter said city staff will propose the creation of a local human rights commission.
“As currently envisioned, the (commission) would act as an advisory body to the City Manager and City Council on human rights and diversity policies and practices and serve as an anti-discrimination information resource for community agencies and organizations,” she said.
The human rights commission would function like the city’s other boards and commissions, meeting regularly, probably publicly, and reporting back to the city council.
Oakland-Potter said “staff research is complete” and the proposal will be brought before the city council in January.
If it’s approved, the human rights commission would bolster Laramie’s score with the Human Rights Campaign. In 2023, cities with a commission in place earned five points, with the possibility of another two points if they gave that commission an enforcement mechanism.
Where Laramie missed the mark
Laramie is within reach of a perfect score. There are a variety of areas where the city could pick up the remaining 11 points — chief among them the establishment of a city human rights commission.
But there were some other points Laramie left on the table that might be surprising to some. For example, the city lost out on two points for failing to have “an inclusive workplace,” as measured by the Human Rights Campaign.
Oakley said the inclusive workplace measure is fairly broad. A city can earn those two points by having an affinity or employee resource group for LGBTQ employees, hosting inclusive diversity training, or advertising open positions specifically to the LGBTQ community.
“Because the MEI rates cities that are large and cities that are very, very, very small, we tried to make it so that all cities being rated have the ability to score highly and get a 100 if they are making the efforts that are reasonable for their particular city,” Oakley said. “So there are multiple paths to earning those points.”
In Laramie, city employees also lack transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, an offering worth six points on the equality index.
“City of Laramie employees receive healthcare benefits through the Wyoming Employees’ Group Insurance Plan,” Oakland-Potter said. “As an employer-subscriber of the plan, the city has no control over benefits.”
The city government also lacks any openly gay or trans leadership. A nonbinary candidate did campaign for a city council seat during the last election, but lost in a crowded primary field. Five of the council’s nine positions will be on the ballot in 2024.
pretty funny that we're so far above Jackson