Fort Worth's High For Score For LGBTQ Inclusivity Doesn't Provide Full Picture, Advocates Say

Arlington TX

09 January, 2022

7:32 PM

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By Cecilia Lenzen, Fort Worth Report January 8, 2022 As a transgender man, Bertinand Gardner is grateful to live in Fort Worth, where he feels safe expressing his gender identity. But he believes the city needs to step up its inclusion efforts. Fort Worth markets itself as an LGBTQ-friendly city, but Gardner, the community outreach and marketing manager for LGBTQ SAVES, said that designation doesn't match what he sees in his everyday life and work. LGBTQ SAVES is a nonprofit organization based in Fort Worth that serves LGBTQ youth. "Maybe (Fort Worth) is trans friendly, but it's not explicitly trans friendly," Gardner said. "I don't expect a sign on every door, but when we're in a state that has proven to be hostile to trans people and then to still struggle to find resources, that's an issue." In November, the city scored 100 points on the Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index, which measures cities' inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents. This is the sixth consecutive year that Fort Worth has scored 100 points, which is considered a perfect score. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.