Rockville Scores Top Marks Again for Commitment to LGBTQ+ Community
November 19, 2025
Rockville has scored 100 marks for the city’s commitment to the health, welfare, safety and equality of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.
This is the city’s eighth year of participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index and the 14th year for MEI’s annual report.
Rockville scored 99 out of 100, plus an additional bonus point, for its nondiscrimination laws, law enforcement, employment and workplace inclusivity, leadership and services to the LGBTQ+ community. Final scores cannot exceed 100.
The HRC framed this year’s results against a challenging national backdrop, underscoring the work of local governments supporting their LGBTQ+ residents.
“Cities and towns around the country are stepping up each and every day, finding new and innovative ways to empower LGBTQ+ people in the face of a dire national state of emergency. Even when anti-LBGTQ+ extremists in state capitals are working to undermine their progress, mayors and city councilmembers keep fighting to make sure that LGBTQ+ people in their communities — especially trans people — are supported and lifted up to the fullest extent possible,” stated HRC president Kelley Robinson.
The 2025 MEI showed local government leaders’ dedication while governing in an “increasingly hostile environment,” she continued.
The 14th annual MEI scorecard, released in mid-November, analyzes and rates 506 municipalities across the country, measuring each for the inclusivity of laws, policies and services for their LGBTQ communities. The MEI is the only nationwide assessment of municipal laws, policies and services that are inclusive of LGBTQ+ people.
Cities rated include the 50 state capitals, the 200 largest cities in the U.S., the five largest cities or municipalities in each state, cities home to the state’s two largest public universities, 75 cities and municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples, and 98 cities selected by HRC and Equality Federation state groups’ members and supporters.
Cities are rated across numerous criteria, covering citywide nondiscrimination protections, policies for municipal employees, city services, law enforcement and the city’s leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.
Learn more about the MEI at hrc.org/MEI.