The City of Overland Park is proud to share its 2020 Municipal Equality Index score.
The Human Rights Campaign, which issues the annual scorecard examining how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ people who live and work there, awarded Overland Park with a score of 93 out of 100 possible points.
“Inclusion has been part of Overland Park’s identity since the City was incorporated on May 20, 1960, when it absorbed unincorporated neighborhoods shunned by adjacent cities because of the religious faith of residents living in those neighborhoods,” said Mayor Carl Gerlach. “We are thankful to the Human Rights Campaign for providing guidance on how to expand our culture of inclusivity to our LGBTQ community.”
The 2020 score is an increase of seven points from the City’s 2019 score, which account for additional non-discrimination efforts on the City’s part, including the addition of a youth bullying prevention policy and LGBTQ-diversity training for law enforcement and other City personnel.
In 2020, the City also requested the Kansas Human Rights Commission expand protection from discrimination in existing state laws to also prohibit LGBTQ discrimination.
This is in addition to other recent efforts to make Overland Park more inclusive, including:
- Adoption of a nondiscrimination ordinance prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodation based on sexual orientation or gender identity,
- Modification of several City Hall restrooms to be gender-neutral,
- Adoption of a hate crimes ordinance that includes elevated penalties for crimes committed on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and more.
In 2019 Overland Park achieved the highest MEI score in Kansas and had the largest increase in MEI score of any city in the nation.
To see Overland Park’s full scorecard and other cities’ scores, visit hrc.org/mei.
If you feel you have been discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, request a complaint form.