Out LGBTQ+ candidate and longtime registered nurse Anise Mayo will appear on the May 5 ballot in a bid to represent District 3 as a member of Cuyahoga County Council.
After more than two decades living in Cleveland, the Detroit transplant said she grew tired of the county government’s lack of initiative around issues that affect LGBTQ+ Clevelanders.
With an extensive background in both healthcare and public health, Mayo said she’s in a unique position to advocate for District 3 residents in a space where their needs have historically not been addressed by lawmakers – including affordable housing, cuts to public health programs and the county’s new $1 billion jail, which is currently under construction.
“I think our priorities are wrong, and I can tell you that all the people I talk to agree with me and there is a need for a call for change,” Mayo told The Buckeye Flame. “It doesn’t matter what community you are from. People are sick of it. Everyone is sick of it.”
Mayo is running for the seat against fellow out LGBTQ+ candidate Stephanie K. Thomas and Democratic incumbent Martin J. Sweeney – a former Cleveland City Council president who was accused of sexual harassment in 2007.
Mayo is endorsed by the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus (CCPC), Matriots and the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats.
‘People-centered’ campaign
Before moving to Cleveland, Mayo struggled to find housing, employment and other resources as a Black trans woman.
In Cleveland, she went to nursing school and started working for the AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland. There, Mayo met other LGBTQ+ people while running the group’s food pantry. Eventually, she became a nursing assistant, then a registered nurse.
For more than 20 years, Mayo has dedicated her career to HIV prevention and treatment for LGBTQ+ people. Today, she works for Central Outreach Wellness Center, where she “carries that mission to deliver care and services to a very underserved community.”
“I think that a person like me, with a healthcare background, is better suited to look at the community from a people-centered perspective,” Mayo said. “I can identify issues and create policy that can address them in the community.”
Public health, Medicaid cuts
“Public health is a huge focus of my platform,” Mayo said. “The way the federal government has cut our Medicaid funds, healthcare is going to become a big burden not only for people in the greater Cleveland community, but especially in the LGBT community.”
“We’re already an underserved population and we will likely face even steeper sharp falls as Trump’s [One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)] kicks in,” she added, noting massive impending cuts to Medicaid and other federal public health programs.
OBBBA also gutted the Ryan White program, which more than 500,000 Americans currently depend on for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
Mayo said she plans to counter the gaps in funding at the county level.
“We have people who live with HIV and use those services, and if they are cut on the federal level, the county government is going to have to figure out a way to shuffle some of the dollars around in our Health and Human Services budget to account for that shortfall,” Mayo said.
“We can’t take funds from our existing programs, but we can adjust how we are using the current funds,” she added. “Maybe we can increase our HHS budget at some point, but what we need to do currently is focus on funding programs like Ryan White that are vitally important to communities.”
Mayo has a plan for the county to partner with Ohio’s Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to make healthcare more affordable and accessible.
“I want to take healthcare to the people who need it the most,” Mayo said. “We want to create an environment where healthcare is not something where people just go when they’re sick. We want to prevent them from getting sick in the first place so that eases the burden.”
Further, Mayo placed a special campaign focus on aging residents in District 3.
“Seniors are the most vulnerable population – even in the LGBT community,” she said. “When I go out and talk to older people, they tell me their house is paid for but the property taxes are so high they can’t afford it.”
“Property tax is a state issue, but the county is responsible for administering how we collect the payment plans,” Mayo added. “So we can do some offset measures to alleviate some of the pressure on those people while we work with our state partners to come up with a better solution. We should also be focused on making life just a little bit easier.”
Pushing back
Mayo staunchly opposes the county’s new $1 billion jail, which is scheduled to begin construction in June at a 70-acre site in the Cleveland suburb of Garfield Heights.
“What I really can’t understand is how we’re going to spend $1 billion building a new jail when we haven’t even fixed the issues with the current jail” including access to healthcare during incarceration, she told The Buckeye Flame.
“People go to jail here and they die,” Mayo said. “We don’t even have a system that focuses on keeping people who are LGBTQ safe from harassment and violence while they’re in jail.”
Mayo also openly criticized incumbent Martin J. Sweeney, who has been accused of both sexual harassment and linked to a county corruption scandal.
“[Sweeney] is not interested in matters of the LGBT community,” Mayo said. “He is not aligned with our values, and if our leaders are not aligned with our values, we will never get anything done.”
Shaping the future
In March, Mayo received an endorsement from the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats.
“Of all the endorsements that I’ve gotten, that was the most important one,” Mayo said. “Because if I can’t get my own community behind me, then I’m done. I’m washed up. There’s no point in doing this. That’s always going to be pivotal in what we do moving forward.”
“Sometimes people assume that we as a community are separated – and a lot of people want us that way,” she added. “Whether I talk to people in the LGBT community or people who are heterosexual, no one is really focused on how someone identifies. They are focused on the everyday issues of how this government is going to affect our lives.”
“We have people who are facing drug addiction, mental health issues, homelessness and healthcare shortfalls. People are not able to afford everyday living,” Mayo said. “Those are issues that are very important to people and our current County Council is not addressing that on any level.”
For LGBTQ+ Clevelanders, Mayo said she hopes to provide an example of leadership during a particularly difficult time.
“This campaign is just about putting our community first, because we’re always dead last,” Mayo said. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world out here, and I’m tired of being on the inside of the dog looking out.
“I know so many people who feel the same way, and oftentimes people in our community feel hopeless. With this campaign, I hope to give someone else hope that there’s someone else out there who’s willing to take on this fight and who’s willing to address our issues,” Mayo said. “My goal is to win for all of us.”
Ignite Action
- To check your voter registration status or the location of your polling place, click here.
- To learn more about Anise Mayo’s campaign for Cuyahoga County Council, click here.
- To make a donation to Anise Mayo’s campaign, click here.
- To sign up to volunteer canvassing or at the polls, please email Anise Mayo at anisem@anisemayoco.com
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