The U.S. Department of Agriculture is holding a rural LGBT summit Thursday at Drake University.
Ashlee Davis is the director of the event, which is the 15th the USDA has held in the rural and southern U.S.. Davis says some there’s a widely-held myth that LGBT people don’t live in rural American, but data from the most recent U.S. Census shows that's not the case.
"LGBT people are living in 99 percent of U.S. counties, when you break that down, quite frankly they are calling rural America home," says Davis. "It is important to ensure that they are receiving information about the programs and services that exist to both strengthen and support their everyday lives."
At the summit information will be available on healthcare, education, farm operating loans, rural housing and business cooperatives. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver the keynote address.
