West Hollywood tied with Los Angeles, Long Beach, Palm Springs, San Diego and San Francisco in the Human Rights Campaign’s 2013 Municipal Equality Index, a ranking of LGBT-friendly cities.
All six cities scored 100 points on the HRC index, which measured six factors. They included the existence of a municipal, county or state law banning discrimination against LGBT people, recognition of same-sex relationships, the LGBT-friendliness of the city as an employer (offers domestic partner benefits, prohibits discrimination, etc.), the availability of services and programs for LGBT people such as human rights commissions (West Hollywood has a Gay and Lesbian Advisory Board), an LGBT-friendly law enforcement unit, and the city’s overall relationship with the LGBT community as measured by public displays of LGBT symbols and participation by city officials in LGBT events. West Hollywood, a city of nearly 35,000 people, 40 percent of whom identify as gay men, was founded in 1984 as a safe haven for same-sex people.