ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For the second year in a row, the City of Albuquerque received a score of 100 on a report card issued by the National Human Rights Campaign for LGBTQ+ inclusivity.

“We are very excited to see our score, it has gone up every single year since Tim Keller became mayor,” said Michelle Melendez, director of the city’s Equity and Inclusion Department. “That is very reflective of the policies that our city and state have taken.”

The ranking focuses on five key areas – non-discrimination laws, employee benefits for LGBTQ+ people, services and programs, law enforcement, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.

“For example, all of our city employees who are LGBTQ+ have benefits that take all types of families into account,” Melendez said. “We have gender-affirming care that is supported by our health insurance policies. Our leave also takes different families into account.”

This past year, the city also added gender-neutral restrooms to City Hall.

In addition to laws and services, they also put an emphasis on supporting the LGBTQ+ community through events like Pride.

“Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths and so making our city safe and inclusive for all of our populations has been our top priority and it has been since Mayor Keller’s administration and part of the reason for the establishment of the Department of Equity and Inclusion,” Melendez said.

The high ranking is a huge accomplishment, but now their work turns to maintaining that level of inclusivity for years to come.

“While we have a score of 100 we are not anywhere near finished with upholding the rights and responsibilities that we have to our LGBT population,” Melendez said. “We will continue to provide training to different departments and look at policies and make sure we maintain them and enforce them.”