Isiah Christie 
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) recently released its 2025 evaluation for LGBTQ+ support in American cities. Hoboken achieved a perfect score, indicating the City’s strong support of the LGBTQ+ community. Keep reading for more information on the Municipal Equality Index and Hoboken’s perfect score in LGBTQ+ support.
About the Municipal Equality Index (MEI)
The Municipal Equality Index is released annually by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) to measure the inclusivity of cities based on their LGBTQ+-oriented laws, services and regulations. Scores are calculated based on criteria such as employment policies, housing, public accommodations, and social protection. HRC sources its information from publicly available data and allows cities to assess their scores before results are released.
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Over 500 cities are selected as part of HRC’s studies, based on state capital status, size, hosting of major universities, statistics on same-sex couples, and hand-picked evaluation from the foundation’s team.
The index began tracking data in 2012 and has seen a major increase in city-wide support in recent years. This year, a record-breaking 130 cities earned a perfect score, indicating a massive rise in the support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Hoboken’s Support of the LGBTQ+ Community
The 2025 Municipal Equality Index was recently released, with Hoboken achieving a perfect score. Hoboken has had a 100% score in the MEI for eight years in a row. The city has been immensely progressive in LGBTQ+ acknowledgment and legislation, including the establishment of two LGBTQ+ liaisons, the hosting of supportive events, and the creation of the Hoboken Pride Advisory Committee.
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“It has never been more critical to continue to stand firm in our beliefs to uplift and protect our LGBTQ+ community members,” Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla said via in a press release. “Hoboken has been, and will remain, a community that believes in inclusivity, and we have put the policies in place to do so.”
Mayor Bhalla has been vocal in his support of LGBTQ+ resources and advancement, including his signing of an executive order to support LGBTQ+ businesses. Hoboken’s established reputation as an inclusive environment has made it a refuge for members of the community, and the city has shown commitment to protecting LGBTQ+ residents.
