Why State College ranks among the country’s best when it comes to LGBTQ community protections

For the third consecutive year, State College has been named one of the most inclusive areas in the country when it comes to LGBTQ community protections.

Based on an annual report issued by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the country, State College earned a perfect score on the organization’s Municipal Equality Index, which measures the inclusivity of municipal laws, policies and services for the LGBTQ community. The borough is one of 110 spots across the country to earn a perfect 100 out of 100 score and joins Philadelphia and Pittsburgh as the only other Pennsylvania municipalities to earn the distinction.

The national average is a score of 67.

“Obviously, we still have work to do, but the borough has been really progressive in making changes,” said Kevin Kassab, State College’s director of the Office of Community Engagement and the borough’s designated liaison to the LGBTQ community. “We’ve had great councils, a great borough manager and mayors who have been really supportive of LGBTQ community members — so that’s made it much easier.”

In 2017, State College earned an above-average score of 73. In response, Kassab and the borough implemented an LGBTQ Advisory Committee that helped spark change. Since that committee’s creation, the resulting impact has seen State College’s score rise to a 98, 100, 100 and, most recently, another 100.

Among the LGBTQ-related changes over the years include increasing the number of gender-neutral bathrooms, implementing an all-inclusive workplace policy, ensuring domestic partners of borough employees receive work and health benefits, hanging Pride banners downtown, having transgender-inclusive health benefits, banning conversion therapy for minors and establishing a liaison for the LGBTQ community in Kassab.

The borough will also host its second annual State College Pride event — which features a caravan and march downtown, with an after-party — on June 11.

“State College is an open and welcoming community for all and, if there are instances where we see it’s not that, we take the action to ensure that all citizens and visitors here in State College feel welcome and their concerns are heard,” added Kassab, who’s openly gay and has worked more than three decades in the borough. “And that’s across the board, not just LGBTQ. That’s something I’m proud of.”

The Municipal Equality Index rates 506 cities across the country on 49 different criteria. Those criteria fall under five categories: Non-discrimination laws, municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and leadership on LGBTQ equality. There are also opportunities for bonus points, such as having an openly LGBTQ elected or appointed leader (+2) or providing services to people living with HIV or AIDS (+2). State College actually finished with 106 points out of 100, thanks to those bonus points, although the organization does not allow for scores to exceed 100.

Last year, State College technically finished with 102 points. The off-the-books increase this year came as a result of the borough’s insurance handbook now including language that specifically includes transgender-inclusive health benefits. (While those benefits have existed for years in the borough, the Human Rights Campaign required certain language to be amended to count it as such.)

Overall, 10 municipalities in the commonwealth were rated. Wilkes-Barre finished with an 80, while Harrisburg ranked last with a score of 69, due in large part to not having an LGBTQ liaison and failing to report its hate crime statistics to the FBI. The remaining eight municipalities earned “All-Star” designations for finishing with scores of 85 or above: Carlisle (86), Erie (86), New Hope (89), Reading (91), Allentown (94), Philadelphia (100), Pittsburgh (100) and State College (100).

“These All-Star cities are blazing the path forward for equality and fighting back against extreme unrelenting attacks on the LGBTQ+ community,” said JoDee Winterhof, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs.

The Municipal Equality Index rates 50 state capitals, the country’s 200 largest cities, the five largest municipalities in each state, the cities home to the state’s two largest public universities, 75 municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples and 98 cities selected by organization members and supporters.

Some municipalities — such as Florence, Alabama — received a zero out of 100.

According to Kassab, who’s a few weeks shy of his 34th anniversary as a borough employee, State College has always been progressive. In 1989, the borough council passed a fair-housing ordinance that outlawed discrimination against the LGBTQ community. And he felt State College accepted him for who he was, making it easier for his daughters to grow up here without feeling uncomfortable.

State College may not be perfect, he added, but it’s a welcoming place. And another perfect score on the equality index only seems to reinforce that.

“The simple thing is it’s just so much easier to love and respect individuals than it is to disagree and harvest hatred toward a specific group,” he said. “It’s just so unproductive — when there are so many other things that we need to work on in communities.”