Then-Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams, right, and District 4 Councilmember Andrew Piel, left, present a city proclamation honoring LGBTQ Pride Month to HELP Center CEO DeeJay Johannessen
In 2013, when the Human Rights Campaign issued its annual Municipal Equality Index, the city of Arlington here in North Texas scored a dismal 11 on the 100-point scale. Last month, HRC issued its MEI again, and this time — after eight years of working diligently with LGBTQ advocates — the city in the center of the DFW Metroplex proudly scored a perfect 100.
That is a 37-point increase from just last year when Arlington scored a 63.
DeeJay Johannessen, a long-time Arlington resident and CEO of Tarrant County’s HELP Center for LGBT Health and Wellness which just opened a new facility in the downtown Arlington area, has been working diligently with the city these last eight years to help improve the city’s relationship with its LGBTQ residents and employees. He said the city’s perfect MEI score this year is “a reflection now of who we are now as a city — open, supportive, and dedicated to Arlington’s diverse community.”
The city took the last two big steps necessary to reach its perfect score this last June when the city council voted to approve the Anti-Discrimination Chapter of the Code of the City of Arlington and to amend the Fair Housing Code chapter of the Code of the City of Arlington by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected statuses.
The council also passed a resolution in June honoring LGBTQ Pride Month.
— Tammye Nash
