Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Equality Index Youth Bullying topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Casper LGBTQ advisory committee pushes city to adopt youth bullying prevention policy after Municipal Equality Index rise
Summary
The Casper LGBTQ Advisory Committee reported a rise to 74 on the Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index and asked the City Council to pursue a youth bullying prevention policy for city services to improve safety for young people and gain flex points on future MEI assessments.
The Casper LGBTQ Advisory Committee told the City Council that Casper’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) score rose to 74 in the 2024 index and asked the council to pursue a youth bullying prevention policy for city services.
The advisory committee’s chair, Elliot Hinkle, introduced the presentation and returned to update the council on the committee’s work since October 2024. "My name is Elliot Hinkle. These they, them pronouns, I'm the chair of the Casper LGBTQ Advisory Committee right now," Hinkle said, and then summarized the committee roster and outreach that led to the MEI improvement. Committee vice chair Daryl Wagner described how the MEI score is used by businesses and individuals considering relocation and explained that Casper’s 74 places it second in Wyoming behind Laramie.
The committee highlighted youth bullying prevention in city-run services as its highest priority among a set of recommendations for earning MEI flex points. Daryl Wagner said the policy would address bullying in city services such as recreation and parks and urged that young people be directly involved in drafting protections and reporting procedures. Wagner also noted the committee’s intention to partner with local youth-focused groups and to draw on recently completed youth focus groups facilitated by the Natrona Collective Health Trust.
Council members asked the committee for more data tied specifically to Casper. Hinkle and other presenters said some of the available raw survey data was not yet disaggregated to city-level responses; they described ongoing coordination with Waller Hall to get clearer, Casper-specific results. Several council members urged the committee and staff to pursue better local data — including the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which was administered by the state in prior years — and to consider lobbying the legislature to restore broader youth behavioral surveys.
Councilors and staff discussed next steps. The mayor pro tem and other council members asked staff to take a first pass at drafting a youth bullying prevention policy tailored to city services and facilities, with a potential partnership with the Youth Empowerment Council to involve young people in drafting. The committee said it will continue outreach and return with examples and models for enforcement mechanisms and contract language to support nondiscrimination and anti‑bullying protections.
The committee also announced an outreach product called "Casper Cares," a suite of one‑page materials the committee will use to explain the council’s role and the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance to residents. Hinkle said, to the committee’s knowledge, the city ordinance had already been used successfully at least once to help an individual in the community.
Councilors expressed support for the committee’s direction while asking that staff and the committee provide clearer, local data when they return with proposed policy language.
