Resident shares concerns about city’s Human Rights Campaign ranking

Out of the eight cities in New Mexico that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) scores for LGBTQ+ equality, Rio Rancho is ranked the lowest, according to hrc.org and local activist Casey Robinson.

Weeks after defending LGBTQ+ book ban attempts at several city and library board meetings, Robinson made a reappearance at Thursday’s Governing Body Meeting. He pointed out to government officials that Rio Rancho doesn’t report its hate crime statistics to the FBI. This is part of why its HRC 2022 Municipal Equality Index (MRE) is lacking compared to other cities.

“We are the 10th-largest city in the entire United States that does not report hate crime statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Robinson said.

The HRC scorecards rank cities based on LGBTQ+ equality out of 100 points. Twelve of these points could have been awarded based on whether the city reported 2020 hate crime statistics to the FBI.

Rio Rancho is tied with Roswell, each with a score of 44 total points. Albuquerque is ranked the highest in the state with 100 points. The remaining cities that have scorecards, listed from highest score to lowest, are Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Farmington, Gallup and Eldorado at Santa Fe.

Rio Rancho scored higher than Farmington and Gallup in 2020. Those cities have since started to report their hate crime statistics to the FBI, causing their scores to surpass Rio Rancho’s in 2022.

“I understand; we may not have had a hate crime last year or the year before,” Robinson said. “But they still want you to report the statistic of zero, is what the Federal Bureau of Investigation asks for.”

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) website, there were 308 cities with a population of 100,000 or larger that reported their hate crime statistics in 2019, which is the most recent year the UCR was updated. According to census.gov, there were 314 cities with a population of 100,000 or larger in 2019, with Rio Rancho’s population just below that as the 318th largest city in the US.

This makes Rio Rancho about the 10th-largest city, or lower, that did not report its hate crime statistics to the FBI in 2019, backing up Robinson’s statement to government officials.

“It is not that difficult,” Robinson said. “This is about showing that you actually care.”

Robinson said that after he was escorted out of a meeting for causing a stir about human rights earlier this year, he sent an apology letter to the members of the Governing Body. In the letter, he suggested that the city set up a human rights commission for minorities.

“Not just the LGBTQ community, but all minorities,” Robinson said.