A gay rights organization ranking shows Cape Coral has the least inclusive local policies in Florida for the LGBT community.
The Human Rights Campaign released its yearly ranking of 353 cities across the country. The group looked at whether local laws are protecting the rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.
Catheryn Oakley, who authored the group’s Municipal Equality Index, said a few Florida cities received a perfect score of 100. That includes cities such as Orlando, Wilton Manors and St. Petersburg.
But, Oakley said Cape Coral was a standout in Florida for receiving the lowest score with 22 points. Oakley said a lot of things contributed to the ranking.
“One of the most important is a non-discrimination ordinance at a local level,” she explained. “As you know, there is no statewide non-discrimination law in Florida that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. So, for cities that have non-discrimination ordinances at the local level—what that means is that people who live and work in those cities have a protection that they are not receiving any other way.”
Oakley said Cape Coral also lost points for not extending domestic partner benefits to city employees. However, earlier this month the city council created a domestic partnership ordinance.
Oakley said in the absence of statewide protections, local governments should do more to protect this vulnerable population.
