Mobile is Alabama’s most gay-friendly city, according to a new report by the nation’s largest gay-rights organization.

Mobile's score on the 2013 Municipal Equality Index looks good to gay-rights advocates only by comparison, however. The Human Rights Campaign judges all five of the Alabama cities it examined to be far below the national average in its laws and policies toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

The same goes for four Mississippi cities, including Gulfport.

The civil rights group gave Mobile 21 out of 100 points. The national average was 57.

In Alabama, scores included 17 points for Huntsville, 15 for Montgomery, 10 for Tuscaloosa and 9 for Birmingham. Birmingham was among the bottom 3.5 percent of the 291 cities examined.

Gulfport scored a 10. Two Mississippi cities, Starkville and Southaven, got zeros.

“Not a single city in Alabama has an inclusive non-discrimination ordinance and the state’s largest city doesn’t even report hate crimes,” Equality Alabama Chairman Fergus Tuohy said in a prepared statement. “This report should be a wake-up call for Alabamians who believe in fairness and equality.”

Still, Tuohy expressed optimism, citing support from Birmingham’s mayor and other elected officials.

Mobile got no points for non-discrimination laws, recognition of same-sex relationships or policies as a municipal employer. It picked up points for having a human rights commission and reporting hate crimes statistics to the FBI. The Human Rights Campaign also awarded 2 out of 5 points for the leadership’s public position on LGBT equality. Mobile also got 2 bonus points for engaging with the “LBGT community.”

The report covered a period of time when Sam Jones was mayor of Mobile. Gay rights did not arise as an issue during the mayoral campaign that Sandy Stimpson won in August.

Human Rights Campaign officials noted that more cities adopted gay-rights policies since the group surveyed 137 cities in 2012. The organization’s president, Chad Griffin, said in a prepared statement that equality is gaining steam all across the country.

“Equality isn’t just for the coasts anymore,” he stated. “This groundbreaking report shows that cities and towns across the country, from Vicco, Kentucky to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, are leading the charge for basic fairness for LGBT people.”

Rebecca Issacs, executive director of Equality Federation, said in a statement that many cities are leading the way even in states that have restrictive laws.

“In cities and towns across America, advocates are telling their stories, organizing their friends, and changing the hearts and minds of our policymakers and neighbors,” she said. “We're winning equality where it matters most -- in the communities we call home.”

The full report can be viewed here.