Laredo ranks as one of the least LGBT friendly cities in Texas



Scroll through to see which Texas cities are the most friendly toward the LGBT community — and which are the least. less The Human Rights Campaign has released its annual Municipal Equality Index for 2016, measuring cities' friendliness toward members of the LGBT community.

Scroll through to see which Texas cities are the most ... more The Human Rights Campaign has released its annual Municipal Equality Index for 2016, measuring cities' friendliness toward members of the LGBT community. Photo: File Photo: File Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Laredo ranks as one of the least LGBT friendly cities in Texas 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

In terms of the most friendly Texas cities to members of the LGBT community, Laredo ranks at the very bottom, according to a study from the Human Rights Campaign.

Every year, the Human Rights Campaign releases its "Municipal Equality Index," which evaluates cities on their non-discrimination laws, benefits and protections offered to LGBT employees, municipal services for LGBT constituents and leadership's relationship with the community.

A city's possible score is from 0 to 100, and bonus points can be awarded if a city meets a criteria that isn't accessible to all other cities at this time.

READ MORE: 15 people you probably didn't know were from Laredo

Laredo tied with Irving and College Station for the lowest score in Texas at 6. The Gateway City scored 0 in every category except for municipal services, which it scored a 6 in. Some of the reasons for the low score include no openly LGBT elected or appointed municipal leaders, as well as a failure to report hate crime statistics to the FBI.

Three Texas cities - Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth - achieved a flawless score of 100, and four more achieved a score of 50 or higher.

See the gallery above for a complete ranking of the most - and least - LGBT-friendly cities in Texas.