Out Leadership, a global LGBTQ+ business network, released a report on the Best and Worst States for LGBTQ+ Equality and they ranked South Carolina as being the 2nd worst – surprisingly an improvement from its last place finish a year ago.
The 2023 State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index released by Out Leadership finds “the state of LGBTQ+ access and equality in the U.S. is regressing,” signaling “increasing polarization across the country in political and cultural attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community.” “The State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index ranks each state and applies a numeric score out of 100 for how LGBTQ+ people experience living, working, building a family and building a life in each state,” said Jane Barry-Moran, Managing Director, Research & Programs, Out Leadership. “We use data from our partners at the Williams institute and LGBTMAP (Measurement advancement project) as well as our own research to measure lived experience for LGBTQ+ people in each state.” In the 2023 Index, Arkansas fell four slots to #50 with an overall score of 32.00 out of 100. South Carolina, who earned a score of 32.50 out of 100, ranks 49th in the country for the worst states for LGBTQ+ equality. Last year, Arkansas ranked #46 with a total score of 35.93 while South Carolina ranked #50 with a score of 22.63. Top 5 states for LGBTQ+ equality 1) New York – 93.67 2) Connecticut – 93.27 3) Massachusetts – 92.67 4) New Jersey – 90.00 5) Colorado – 88.67 Worst 5 states for LGBTQ+ equality 46) South Dakota — 34.97 47) Tennessee – 34.40 48) Louisiana – 33.50 49) South Carolina – 32.50 50) Arkansas – 32.00
To see the full report, click here.
