In October, St. Louis made two national rankings for LBGTQ+ friendliness. The Human Rights Campaign awarded the City of St. Louis a perfect score for its support of the queer community. Clever Real Estate, however, ranked St. Louis as one of the least LBGTQ+ friendly cities in the U.S.
What’s behind these disparate rankings, and how LGBTQ+ friendly is St. Louis, really?
On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, panelists Avi Ivaturi, peer support organizer at St. Louis Queer Support Helpline; Midwest Rainbow Research Institute Executive Director Inoru Morris, and Nick Dunne, LGBTQIA+ and Arts Liaison for the City of St. Louis, discuss how St. Louis supports its LGBTQ+ residents and what could be improved.
They also reflect on the 2023 Missouri Legislative Session — lawmakers this year passed bans on transgender students participating in school sports and gender-affirming surgery for minors — and share what they’ll be keeping an eye on as Missouri lawmakers convene in 2024.
Hear the discussion on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast, or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Ulaa Kuziez is our production intern. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
