A list of scores was released Wednesday that shows gay and lesbian inclusion in municipal law and policy. The 2014 Municipal Equality Index, released by the Human Rights Campaign, aims to measure LGBT equality.
San Diego, Long Beach, Los Angeles and West Hollywood received perfect scores, while medium-sized cities fell below the state average.
"In just three years, the number of municipalities earning top marks for their treatment of LGBT citizens has more than tripled," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "Simply put, in this country there is an ongoing race to the top to treat all people, including LGBT people, fairly under the law, and it's time our state and federal laws caught up."
San Diego was among 38 cities in the U.S. to receive a perfect score, which is 100.
City Council President Todd Gloria said San Diego has received perfect scores for several years now.
"On issues of equality, we have long since acknowledged that treating all citizens the same is good for our city," said Gloria, who is gay. "It's good for the general climate in a community, where everyone feels supported — it's good for business, we know that folks want to be in communities where everyone is supported and welcome."
Other cities in the region included in the rankings were Chula Vista, 61; Escondido, 60; and Oceanside, 57.
The state average score was 73 and the national average was 59, according to the HRC.
Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California, said the study shows two Californias.
"Most of our larger cities and more progressive municipalities like Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Francisco have perfect or near-perfect scores, while many other cities — particularly in the Central Valley, Orange County and more rural areas — fall far short of the mark," he said.
The rankings included the 200 largest cities in the U.S., all 50 state capitals, the four largest cities in each state, the municipalities with a state's largest public university, and a mix of large, medium and small communities with concentrations of same-sex couples.
