Comparing Decatur and Avondale’s Recent LGBT Rank
Decatur Metro | November 27, 2013 | 9:18 amAtlanta recently made news scoring a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign’s second annual Municipal Equality Index. In the same index, WABE followed up with a report that Decatur scored the lowest score in the metro area with just a 27 rank.
City Manager Peggy Merriss pointed out to WABE that Decatur’s small size and the structure of its government prevented it from checking off some factors used to create the score…
One factor used in the survey is having an LGBT official in government. That is something that is tough for Decatur, which has a population of about 20,000.
“We don’t have mayor’s liaisons to anything. He shares a desk with the four other city commissioners and when they come in, they have a desk and a phone they can use. The mayor doesn’t even have an office,” says Merriss.
However, neighboring Avondale Estates scored a 56. So a direct comparison of areas where either Decatur or Avondale scored points may shed some light on the discrepancy in scores.
Relationship Recognition
- Municipal Domestic Partnership Registry: Decatur 0 of 12, Avondale 12 of 12
Municipality as Employer
- Non-Discrimination in City Employment: Decatur 10 of 10, Avondale 10 of 10
- Domestic Partner Benefits: Decatur 4 of 4, Avondale 0 of 4
- Municipality if a Welcoming Place to Work: Decatur 0 of 2, Avondale 2 of 2
Municipal Services
- LGBT liaison in Mayor’s Office: Decatur 0 of 5, Avondale 5 of 5
- Enumerated Anti-Bullying School Policies: Decatur 3 of 3, Avondale 3 of 3
Law Enforcement
- LGBT Police Liaison or Task Force: Decatur 0 of 8, Avondale 8 of 8
Relationship with the LGBT Community
- Leadership’s Public Position on LGBT Equality: Decatur 2 of 5, Avondale 5 of 5
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Openly LGBT elected or appointed municipal leaders: Decatur 3 of 3, Avondale 3 of 3
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City engages with the LGBT community: Decatur 2 of 2, Avondale 2 of 2
h/t: Decaturish
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I think this well illustrates the problems with any of these kinds of city comparison surveys, whether they be frivolous (Best City for Fun Loving Singles With Dogs!) or less so (Best City for Business.). There are simply too many variables to make meaningful generalizations.
Group identity. Ugh.
Group-on.
As much as I agree that the equality of LGBT people should be respected and recognized, are they not marginalized by the suggestion that a liaison is necessary?
However honorable the motivation, the need to have special liaisons for specific groups in the community implies that there is an access or trust problem that has to be addressed. Is Decatur, by not having such liaisons, ignoring a problem, or is it an evolved community that doesn’t have this particular problem? Based on my perceptions, I would lean toward the latter, but maybe I’m just blithely ignorant. What I don’t understand is why the survey criteria didn’t include the proportion of same-sex households in each community. It seems like an obvious baseline. Decatur (and Avondale Estates) has long had one of the highest proportions not just in metro Atlanta but in the country. Hard to imagine that people would live in a place they felt was unfriendly toward them, unless they lacked the means and mobility to go elsewhere.
+1
I admire the goal of this type of thing but it does seem to be an example of check-box compliance, in that it seems far more concerned with metrics than with a culture in which one’s daily experience and interaction with government is one of fairness and equality.
Of course, that’s way harder to measure. But (caveat: straight guy) I’m not bothered if our city has chosen to be more concerned with how things play out in daily practice over how they look on paper. In fact, all things considered, it would seem to be the more humanistic approach.
Look at the posting carefully. It lists a City of North Druid Hills. How a non-existent entity can be rated on how favorable its policies are towards LCBT persons is beyond me. That kind of weirdness makes it easy to discount whatever conclusions the survey reached. It’s easier to make up data than to make up a city. Census information on same-sex households suggests that many people of various identities consider Decatur to be a pretty good place to live. That means a lot more than a half-baked look at selected data.
I imagine you’d get a very different result if you simply surveyed 100 gay/lesbian/etc..folks and asked then where they’d prefer to live.
And yes, I recognize that my etc/ellipsis is probably incorrect above. so sue me…
As a gay person living in Decatur, I agree the score does not reflect the values or viewpoints of the people who live here. However, that being said, for a city with one of the highest gay populations in the country, there is virtually zero recognition of this community from city government.
Why aren’t pride flags or banners displayed downtown during Atlanta Pride week? Better yet, with the number of gays and lesbians raising children in Decatur, we should have a family pride parade to complement the larger one in Midtown. With the number of plaques, statues, and other commemorative items in the square, why not one that recognizes the positive contribution gays and lesbians have made to the city? Decatur is a great place to live for gay families, but that doesn’t mean more could be done by city government.
I believe any group could host their own event and petition the city for an event permit, etc. Why does it have to be initiated by the city?
“why not one that recognizes the positive contribution gays and lesbians have made to the city?”
_____________________________
Why not recognize individuals who have made positive contributions regardless of the group identity they or anyone else puts on them?
You know what’s really gay? Stealing someone’s underscore!
Buddha taught that for inner peace and harmony, it’s wise to compare oneself on meaningless metrics against nonexistant external competitors.
Why organizations like these insist on manufacturing angst is beyond me. Is it not enough to live and let live, love and let love? Must we divide ourselves, into ever finer delineations? You know, we don’t have any indigenous Pacific Islanders in elected service – whatever shall we do?!
Wait…the gays are in both Decatur AND Avondale Estates?!!! Who let THAT happen? And it’s gonna spread like a virus! My boys are gonna start playing with dolls, and wearing makeup, and taking ballet! OH MY GOD! I have to move to Alpharetta, like NOW!
By the way, this is called “sarcasm.” I think this whole ranking thing is such bull-hockey. Look around you; LGBT is so ingrained in Decatur, it’s not even worth noting anymore. In other words, it’s what I (a straight man) would call normal life in our town. Last time I actually noticed a gay person was when my wife pointed out he was giving me the eye and, to be honest, I was flattered.
I am gay and live in the City of Decatur. Many of the criteria used in the index don’t matter in my day to day life and will not matter at all once Marriage becomes legal for gays in this state. I feel fully a part of the community here and that my choice of partner is never an issue.
That being said, “special privileges” like liaisons are sometimes necessary to protect groups that are not specifically protected by the laws. In this state I can be fired or evicted because I am gay. While all of that seems unthinkable in our little town, it would be perfectly legal.
This survey shows that our City does not go out of it’s way to legally protect it’s gay citizens. Social sentiment seems to make legal protection unnecessary but that can change with the shifting demographics.
Decatur: We’re So Frickin Gay We Don’t Even Need to Act Like It
I’m curious. Why was Mr. Billingsley’s post removed? It didn’t seem offensive (but to be fair, I’m not a member of the LGBT community, so my offense meter is blunted). Maybe I missed some responses to it that caused this thread to go downhill?
Maybe not offensive (although he did refer to “pimps”), but meaningless and irrelevant.
Would someone be kind enough to paraphrase the entirety of what Mr. Billingsley said? He seems like a good guy, so this is no attempt to bash anyone. I am just REALLY curious.
Ditto.. I am curious what Mr. B. posted. I know him to be a decent guy, but if Steve says the post was “meaningless and irrelevant” I leave him to be the expert on the meaningless.