Cleveland's LGBTQ+ community looks for answers

Threat level: Kenyon Farrow, board chair at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, tells Axios the city has seen the effects of rising anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

• "We've certainly seen more harassment and threats," Farrow says. "Concerns over a lack of health care options, affordable housing and mental health struggles in the community need to be addressed as well."

Driving the news: Kent State's College of Public Health has received funding from the Cleveland Foundation and other local institutions for an LGBTQ+ needs assessment study of Greater Cleveland.

• Kent State released a similar report for Akron in August.

Of note: The university is working with more than 100 local LGBTQ+ organizations, including the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, in gathering data, according to the Cleveland Department of Public Health.

What they're saying: The department's director, David Margolius, says he hopes the report addresses LGBTQ+ issues "unique to Cleveland," such as the city's high poverty rate and homelessness population.

• However, he says, "We don't need to wait on the report to address obvious and immediate issues such as preventing violence and affordable housing."
• Margoluis says the city is advocating for transitional housing for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Between the lines: Margolius sees the study as the first phase in Cleveland and the LGBTQ+ community's collaboration "without obstruction," which he says has been an issue in the past.

What's next: Data gathering for Cleveland will take place this spring and summer.