Kansas City got one perfect score for LGBTQ+ equality — and also one of the worst

The Human Rights Campaign gave Kansas City high marks on its municipal equality index, but another group said the city is one of the worst places for LGBTQ+ people to live.
Kansas City received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s latest Municipal Equality Index for its record on LGBTQ+-friendly legislation.

The annual report looks at how well municipal policies, laws and services include LGBTQ+ people. This year’s index ranked 506 municipalities across all 50 states, about 25% of which received perfect scores — including St. Louis and Columbia.

In contrast, Clever Real Estate group ranked Kansas City and St. Louis as two of the 10 least LGBTQ+-friendly cities in the country, because of Missouri's anti-trans and anti-queer legislation.

Cathryn Oakley, founding author of the HRC index, said the ranking focuses on how cities are protecting their LGBTQ+ residents.

“What it is about is whether or not these cities are trying to make it a space that is respectful of LGBTQ people,” Oakley said. “The politicians who are the closest to the community are making radically different decisions from the folks who are in the state legislature,”