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Report Finds Maine Communities Score Below National Average On LGBTQ-Friendly Policies

A new report assessing policies that promote LGBTQ equality finds communities in Maine scored below the national average.

In its annual Municipal Equality Index, the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign surveyed 500 municipalities across the U.S. including nine in Maine. The assessed criteria include comprehensive nondiscrimination laws, contractor nondiscrimination policies and city employee domestic partner benefits.

The cities and towns in Maine that were surveyed averaged 53 out of a possible 100 points. The national average is 60. Eighty-eight municipalities across the nation received perfect scores. Portland had the top score in Maine with 94 points, 8 points higher than last year.

The Human Rights Campaign notes that the report is not a ranking of the best cities for LGBTQ people to live in.

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Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.