Town Receives Perfect Score on 2025 Muncipal Equality Index. Activists Say Much Work Remains

The Town of Amherst announced on November 21, 2025 that it has achieved a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2025 Municipal Equality Index (MEI), illustrating the town’s commitment to equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ residents and visitors.  The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipality Equality Index is a nationwide evaluation of cities and towns on how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there. Cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality. 

“Achieving a perfect score on the Municipal Equality Index is a proud moment for Amherst and a true testament of our dedication to creating a community where everyone feels supported and valued,” said Town Manager Paul Bockelman. “This accomplishment highlights the commitment of our town departments, community leaders, and advocates who work tirelessly to make Amherst a truly inclusive and welcoming place for all. 

“When every resident, including our LGBTQ+ community, feels safe and respected, the whole town benefits,” said Philip Avila, Assistant Director of the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “A strong DEI department helps turn our values into action, which is why earning a 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2025 Municipal Equality Index is so meaningful. It reflects our commitment to equity and to building a community where everyone can truly belong and thrive.” 

Some of the key initiatives contributing to the Town’s score include: 

• Implementation of comprehensive non-discrimination policies in all areas of municipal operations.
• Town services provided to LGBTQ+ youth, people experiencing homelessness, and older adults.
• Elected and appointed leaders who openly identify as LGBTQ+.
• Partnerships with local LGBTQ+ organizations to provide support and outreach services.
• Community programs that celebrate and promote LGBTQ+ culture and visibility.
• Designation of an LGBTQ+ Police Liaison from the Amherst Police Department who serves as a resource to the town’s LGBTQ+ community and elevates related concerns to the police chief and other Town officials.

View the Town of Amherst’s 2025 Municipal Equality Index Scorecard. 

Pamela Nolan-Young, Director of the Department of DEI shared: “Our perfect score was made possible because of the additional points the town gained through the Amherst Police Department’s creation of an LGBTQ+ Liaison. We thank Chief Ting for that designation, and we’re truly pleased to have our score reflect our ongoing commitment. This achievement is a reflection the progress we continue to make together.” 

 “With federal and state governments too often leaving LGBTQ+ people behind, cities and towns are stepping up and embracing inclusion and equality,” said Kelly Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, in an announcement of this year’s scores. “For years now, state legislatures – and now Congress and the President – are waging a calculated campaign to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life and the cities that wish to welcome them. But there are still more of us who support equality than those who do not – and I commend each and every city that fought against tall odds to show their continued support of our community. In these challenging times, our work with the Municipal Equality Index and the leadership of these municipalities have never been more critical.”  

Local Activists Point to Work That Remains
Local activists responded to the report with caution, praising the town’s progress on LGBTQ rights, but noting several areas, including LGBTQ rights, were the town is lagging and noting that that programs that received HRC recognition, like the DEI office and CRESS, have been perennially under-staffed and under-funded.

“Every postponed vote, every stalled initiative, every under-resourced plan is a message: we value the appearance of progress more than progress itself.”
Rizwana Khan

Area organizer Ali Wicks-Lim, who as a member of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus of Amherst has been central in grassroots community efforts to support LGBTQIA+ students in Amherst’s schools since the middle school bullying scandal of 2023, said:

“Right now the primary focus of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus of Amherst is the safety and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ students at school. The recent order to reinstate Delinda Dykes, a guidance counselor who caused harm to queer and trans students, is a significant concern. We hope that the Town of Amherst will make the school budget a priority so they have the resources they need for mental health services and social support to offset the challenge of having a guidance counselor who many parents don’t trust with their children. Truly protecting vulnerable students at a time like this requires meaningful action and financial support.”

Amber Cano-Martin, an organizer and town councilor elect from District 2, also noted the struggle to protect LGBTQ students in Amherst. She said:

“I’m very proud of our town for achieving a perfect score on LGBTQ issues from the Human Rights Campaign. However, I think it is vitally important that we practice our values and commitment in perhaps the most vital place of all, our public schools. Recently, Delinda Dykes, one of three counselors at the middle school who were fired two years ago over allegations of transphobia and homophobia that were documented through an extensive Title IX process, was permitted to return to her position after appealing the termination. The school administration and our community must work to ensure that vulnerable middle school students are protected from the potential harms of interacting with this individual, and to ensure that going forward we have protections and systems in place to promptly report and address discriminatory and harmful behavior on the part of adults who are charged with educating our children in an environment free of harassment based on any marginalized identity.”

Debora Ferreira, the co-chair of the town’s Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC), emphasized that the town government needs to do more to protect the rights of all of the town’s most vulnerable residents, a message that the CSSJC has been amplifying for several years (see also here). She highlighted areas where much work on behalf of civil rights remains to be done, saying:

“I believe the town needs to do more to outwardly message that Amherst is inclusive to all, especially those who are on the margins due to race, English proficiency, immigration status, and all other protected statuses including LGBTQIA+. This means attracting more businesses, residents, homeowners, renters who hold these statuses. Also, by putting in place the Resident Advisory Board (ROB), it will help all residents feel safer in our community. Fully funding CRESS and DEI will further help our most vulnerable residents, since these departments assist all those who are marginalized, ensuring protection of their rights. Lastly, the town needs to do more to assist our schools in making sure they are more inclusive. Given the problems the middle school has had, our schools need to do more programming and messaging on how to report bias, harassment, and discrimination. The town and our schools need to do more to hire diverse staff, faculty and administrators.They need to create the atmosphere in our schools where our students feel heard by the staff, faculty and administrators.”

Pat Ononibaku, President of the Black Business Association of Amherst Area and Chair of the Progressive Coalition of Amherst said that the progress made on behalf of LGBTQ residents has not been shared by other marginalized groups in town. She argued that equity and inclusion cannot be selective. She said,

” The Town of Amherst deserves praise for its efforts to advance equality and inclusiveness within the LGBTQ+ community. However, the town government must extend its commitment to equity and inclusion to every resident, especially those who have historically been excluded from civic participation and economic opportunities. “

“An example is the inequitable and mismanagement of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, intended to address the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The town manager’s allocation process denied funding to many Black-owned businesses hit hardest by the pandemic. Additionally, it is concerning that the town manager chose to transfer unallocated ARPA funds into the town’s Free Cash account instead of distributing the remaining ARPA funds to support vulnerable residents and black owned businesses to fulfill the government’s intent for ARPA. That decision represents misalignment between the stated goals of ARPA and the actual outcomes of the town’s implementation.” 

“Equality and inclusiveness cannot be selective by ignoring other marginalized groups who continue to experience systemic barriers. The incoming Town Council has opportunity to take corrective action by conducting transparent review of how ARPA funds were allocated, identify the gaps and inequities in the process, vote to direct the remaining ARPA funds to the Black-owned businesses, Youth Empowerment Center, and financial assistance to vulnerable residents who continue to face economic instability. “

Rizwana Khan a local writer and human rights advocate and a member of the town’s Human Rights Commission, noted the publication of four independent reports (see here, here, here and here) in the last year that said that the town is failing at its commitments to racial equity, moving at a glacial pace on commitments that it has made, and often abandoning the very promises it celebrates in press releases. She said,

“This is the same Amherst where an employee accused of bullying LGBTQ+ students at the Middle School was quietly reinstated, and we were all supposed to move on as if those kids were imaginary.”

“The town loves forming committees: the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee, the Racial Equity Working Group, the Liberatory Visioning Task Force. Names that sound like progress, like forward motion, like accountability.But in reality these committees spend months, even years, workshopping frameworks. They draft, revise, discuss, hold meetings, host consultations. And then action rarely comes. Recommendations sit on shelves. Oversight boards remain toothless. Reparations funds linger as promises. Programs remain understaffed or empty. Kids still get misgendered at school. Delays aren’t minor—they compound harm. Every postponed vote, every stalled initiative, every under-resourced plan is a message: we value the appearance of progress more than progress itself.”

Read the full MEI Report
The full MEI report, Amherst’s scorecard, and a searchable database for other municipalities’ scores are available online at hrc.org/mei. To learn more about what Amherst is doing to support LGBTQ+ equality, please contact the Human Rights Commission at humanrights@amherstma.gov.