Missoula Touts High Score From National LGBTQ+ Group After Flouting State Law and Adopting Pride Flag

MISSOULA — The City of Missoula announced this week it scored 95 out of 100 points on a national LGBTQ+ equality index, earning recognition from the Human Rights Campaign for circumventing a state law that banned flags representing sexual orientation, gender, and political ideology—including Pride flags—from schools and government buildings.

The city’s score on the 2025 Municipal Equality Index increased four points from last year, with the Human Rights Campaign awarding Missoula three “flex points” for what the organization calls “testing the limits of restrictive state law.”

That credit came after the Missoula City Council voted 9-2 in June to adopt the Pride flag as an official city flag^1, a move that allowed schools and government buildings statewide to display the flag despite House Bill 819.

Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, sponsored HB 819^2, which restricts flags that “represent a political party, race, sexual orientation, gender or political ideology” from being displayed on government property. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation in May 2025.

Mitchell vowed in an email to close the loophole, writing: “We will amend the law next session to make sure no city can make a political symbol their official flag”.

Gov. Gianforte criticized the city’s decision on Facebook, saying nine members of the Missoula City Council “made clear their top priority is flying a divisive pride flag over government buildings and schools — all while ignoring the city’s housing affordability crisis, raising taxes by 17% because of over spending, and refusing to take firm action to end encampments in the city”.

The Human Rights Campaign’s index evaluates cities on non-discrimination laws, workplace policies, municipal services, law enforcement practices, and leadership on so-called “LGBTQ+ equality.” Missoula scored 95 points, up from 91 in 2024.

Bozeman, which also adopted the Pride flag as an official city flag in July^3, scored 84 points and received the same flex points for circumventing state law. Helena scored 44 points, while Billings and Kalispell tied for the lowest scores among rated Montana cities at 12 points each.

Despite Missoula’s high score, the Human Rights Campaign says the city is not doing enough in several areas. The organization’s scorecard shows Missoula failed to earn points for requiring all-gender single-occupancy facilities in city buildings, protecting youth from conversion therapy, and providing comprehensive transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits to city employees.

The 2025 index marked the first national average score decrease in seven years^4, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which attributed the decline to what it called a “chilling effect” from state and federal policies.

The Missoula City Council adopted the Pride flag resolution sponsored by Council member Jennifer Savage on June 2, 2025. Savage said at the time: “When I see a Pride flag, I think that my kid is safe in that place. I think when a public school teacher flies it in their classroom, it says to students, this is a safe place for you”.

Mitchell responded to the flag adoption, stating he would seek to change the law and adding: “If they want to fly that flag, they can do it at home, not on the taxpayer’s pole”.

The Municipal Equality Index rates 506 cities nationwide on 49 different criteria. A record 132 cities achieved perfect 100-point scores in 2025.