Even though one in four Texans was uninsured in 2012, Perry claimed, “Every Texan has health care in this state. Texans can thank Republican governor Rick Perry for that. Queer women have it even worse, as the state continually ranks among the worst places for women, with the most abysmal healthcare system in the country. Eight Longhorn towns rank among the worst for LGBT people, with a whopping four (Lubbock, Mesquite, McAllen and Irving) receiving a zero score from the Human Rights Campaign. When it comes to being unfriendly to LGBT people, Texas’ cities have the rest of America beat by a country mile. This is especially bad news for Alabama’s queer people of color, as the state has the nation’s sixth highest rate of hate crimes, many of which are racially motivated. Alabama ranked first in Twitter racism, with Mississippi close behind. The geographical research team searched tweets from Obama’s 2012 reelection to track where America’s racist tweets were coming from. The home of the Crimson Tide is also continues to be one of the most racist states in the nation, per social media data mapping from Floating Sheep. It also has a higher rate of income inequality, a particular concern for LGBT citizens who already face a greater risk for poverty. (Those cities average a scary 5.6.) In Alabama, only 32 percent of citizens are in favor of marriage equality, two percentage points less than Mississippi (only Arkansas and Louisiana rank lower). The Heart of Dixie has five cities, including Birmingham and Mobile, that rank as among the worst for LGBT people, all scoring below a 10. Alabama’s laws go a bit further than most: The state’s sex education program mandates that “classes must emphasize, in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.”Īlabama actually beats Mississippi in a few notable ways. Mississippi has the highest obesity rate, the shortest life expectancy, and the poorest citizens, as well as the country’s fourth-worst public school system, ahead of Idaho, Nevada and South Dakota.Īlong with Mississippi, Alabama is one of eight so-called “No Promo Homo” states, with laws that “expressly forbid teachers from discussing gay and transgender issues,” according to GLSEN. If it’s any consolation to gay residents, the Magnolia state isn’t that great for anyone to live in. When Arizona is ahead of you on LGBT issues, you know you’ve got a big problem. In April, Mississippi passed a “religious freedom” law that would allow businesses to deny service to LGBT couples the bill was strikingly similar to the one Arizona governor Jan Brewer vetoed last year. This is the same state where a school orchestrated a fake decoy prom to keep a lesbian couple from attending and another banned a female student’s yearbook photo when she was pictured wearing a tuxedo. The state as a whole averages a paltry 9.8.įor anyone following Mississippi politics, this shouldn’t be a huge surprise.
Hattiesburg and Gulfport don’t score much better, with a respective 6 and 10 rating on the index.
The index looks at such factors as employment non-discrimination, transgender inclusive health benefits, and anti-bullying efforts in schools.
Mississippi is also home to Southaven, one of the few cities in the country to score a zero out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index. (A Daily Beast survey gave the state a -1 score on gay rights.) In addition, a survey from the Guardian showed that the state has almost no protections for LGBT people, outright banning marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples. As just 34 percent of the state’s population believes in the freedom to marry, Silver estimates that the Mississippi electorate wouldn’t get around to it for another decade or so. Some of the states on this list will be no-brainers others might surprise you.Īccording to electoral wunderkind Nate Silver, Mississippi will likely be the last state in the country to pass marriage equality on its own. Here is a researched list of the worst states for LGBT Americans. “We see in the South historic racism that’s more entrenched – not that there’s not racism everywhere else. “Where we see one kind of oppression, we also see another,” Signorile says. So where do LGBT people have it worst? According to Michaelangelo Signorile, the editor-at-large for the Huffington Post’s Gay Voices section, the worst states are clustered in the Midwest and the Bible Belt South. Flashback: Tina Turner Covers Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson on Debut Solo Album