Natalie DiBlasio

USA TODAY

Cities have pushed ahead of states to pass laws barring discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, a report from the Human Rights Campaign shows.

The Municipal Equality Index, compiled by the group, scores cities from 0 to 100 on their friendliness toward LGBT residents by evaluating whether their laws demand equality for all of its citizens. Cities at the top include Tucson, Boston and Kansas City. Five cities, one in Mississippi and four in Texas, scored a zero.

To score 100 points, HRC, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization, considers such things as whether a city prohibits employment and pay discrimination, offers domestic partner benefits, provides transgender-inclusive health care benefits and protects students from school bullying because of sexual orientation.

Of the 38 cities that scored 100, 15 are in states that don't have non-discrimination laws, up from eight cities last year, and two in 2012, the study found.

"Municipalities do it on their own because the state isn't taking care of it," said Chuck Smith, executive director at Equality Texas. "If they want their city to be vibrant and a welcoming environment, they need to do something locally."

Texas, which has no LGBT anti-discrimination law and is home to four out of the five cities that scored a zero, has two cities with top rankings: Austin, with 100 points, and Dallas, with 91.

Low-ranking cities have been quick to improve, Smith said, noting that the worst-scoring cities are new to the list.

"There is even competition between cities," Smith says.

Worcester, Mass., New England's second-largest city and an old manufacturing city turned college town, was among the cities with a low grade last year. That horrified new City Manager Ed Augustus, who said he wanted his city to be "a leader in human rights and equality." The city scored a 55.

"I don't think a lot of people realized our low ranking until they saw it," Augustus said. "People jumped right on board to make changes."

City leaders met with local LGBT groups, passed a law banning discrimination in city employment and began offering medical benefits to transgender individuals, Augustus said. The community supported the changes, he said.

This year, Worcester scored 100.

Other cities wrestle with making such changes. Springfield, Mo., which scored 27 in the index, is engaged in a citywide debate over a recently approved ordinance making it illegal to refuse someone a job or deny them housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Opponents say it violates freedom of speech by preventing them from operating a business in line with their religious beliefs. "Our property rights and our freedom of speech have been criminalized," Calvin Morrow, spokesman for Christians Uniting for Political Action, said.

The organization is part of Springfield Citizens United, which is leading the petition to overturn the ordinance.

"The mayor's commission on human rights has one goal and that is to destroy the Christian voice in the public square," Morrow said.

Cities that do want to push their own anti-discrimination agenda may be stymied by state laws. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said in an essay included as part of the study that Florida's ban on same-sex marriage has hurt his city's progress toward full equality.

It "impedes our ability to fulfill our core mission of providing for the health and welfare of our residents, thereby eroding the very legitimacy of our governments," Levine wrote.

Index author Cathryn Oakley says cities may find it easier to address the issues because they are closer to it.

"When a neighbor steps up and talks about discrimination, the conversation becomes real to people," Oakley said. "On a city level, you are face to face. You are forced to confront discrimination."