Almost every test has a curve – a normal distribution of scores that creates a bell-shaped dispersal of grades that range to extremes, both in perfection and imperfection.
Of course, as students, we all strive to find ourselves on the right side of that curve, where we can identify success as having been “above average.” We all just want to pass, and that’s the whole point.
But, based on the 2013 Municipal Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign, Tuscaloosa is set on failing.
The Municipal Equality Index, or MEI, was created by the HRC in order to identify which of the largest cities and municipalities “demonstrate the ways that many cities can – and do – support the LGBTQ people who live and work there, even where states and the federal government have failed to do so.”
These ratings represent local policies, laws, services and mandates, and the scoring process places no weight upon state politics on the topic of LGBTQ rights. Rather, this index was specifically created to isolate cities and municipalities and allow for the identification of small areas in the United States where strides may be made and changes enforced.
Scoring a miniscule 10 points out of 100 on this Municipal Equality Index, the city of Tuscaloosa has managed to force itself down toward the very tail end of this index, as it failed to collect any of the 100 possible points or 20 possible bonus points, other than in the section of reporting hate crime statistics to the FBI.
This means that our city essentially maintains no effective non-discrimination laws, obviously no civil union or domestic partnership registries for LGBTQ relationship recognition, providing minimal equality, benefits or protections for LGBTQ employees, no services for the protection and progression of the LGBTQ community and no particular relationship with the Tuscaloosa LGBTQ community.
On all counts, other than the mandated FBI hate crime report in 2011, we fail.
This can’t stand.
Obviously, we live in a largely conservative area and a largely conservative state, so I am not suggesting immediate and overarching conversions to a liberal agenda, but, rather, I am saying that we must afford the basic rights that all humans deserve to members of the LGBTQ community. These include anti-discrimination laws, equality insurance, establishing a foundational and functional relationship with our community, and providing civil service initiatives and task forces for the advancement of this community.
Why would we continue to maintain a culture with any less? We are all human, and we all deserve the same basic rights, or at the very least, the right to be recognized.
Tuscaloosa, according to this index, has failed to grant this community even that respect.
I can’t help but be slightly ashamed by this fact and by the fact that the only reason that we gained any points whatsoever was due to a federal mandate. It wasn’t really even something that was up to us; it was just paperwork.
This is disgraceful to say the least, and in my opinion, we must fight this directly to the contrary. We must define these relationships, demand more equality for the LGBTQ community and expect nothing less.
We must fight to make it to the other end of the curve, we must fight this failure, and we must fight toward success.
Maxton Thoman is a sophomore majoring in biology. His column runs on Wednesdays.
