News & Politics

How Did Your City Do on LGBTQ Protections?

Eight DC-area municipalities are graded in a new Human Rights Campaign report.

The DC suburbs garnered high scores in Human Rights Campaign’s annual index cataloging protections for LGBTQ residents and workers in 506 cities across the country. While DC itself is not included in the report, five local jurisdictions totted up perfect scores: Arlington County and Alexandria in Northern Virginia, as well as College Park, Frederick and Rockville in Maryland.

Not every town received the same accolades. Fairfax County trailed its neighbors with a final score of 88/100, faltering in key areas such as pro-equality policy efforts. Similarly, Gaithersburg notched 93/100 — the same score as last year’s index. But neither rivaled Bowie in Prince George’s County, which eeked out a mere 60 points.

Take a look at some of the scores in our backyard:

Virginia 

Alexandria: 100

Arlington County: 100

Fairfax County: 88

Maryland 

College Park: 100

Bowie: 60

Frederick: 100

Gaithersburg: 93

Rockville: 100

For an in-depth look at each city, read HRC’s full report here.

Daniella Byck
Lifestyle Editor

Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.