"Welcome to The Advocate's second annual look at our country's queerest burgs," announces the mag in a recent feature.

The Advocate admits at the outset that the magazine relied upon a "completely unscientific -- but still strangely accurate -- statistical equation" to come up with its "Gayest Cities in America" ranking. Regardless, Cleveland is fortunate to have made the list, coming in at #12 out of 15 spots.

"Gay issues have never been more of a lightning rod. Pop culture has never been so gleefully gay. And politicians have never been more gay-accepting -- or at least gay-aware. But no matter how visible LGBT people seem to be, there are some folks who still think we all live in Chelsea, West Hollywood, and the Castro. But, of course, that's far from the case."

The Advocate formulated a diverse and surprising list of cities "where gay people are living, loving, voting, and creating communities."

12. Cleveland

Who knew? Cleveland is about to become a major gay stomping ground. After much effort, the city won the bid to host the 2014 Gay Games (GayGames.com). "We see this as a springboard," says Sharon Kobayashi, vice president of the tourism group Positively Cleveland. "We hope to make Cleveland a gay destination." Things are changing quickly here: The city council added protections for transgender people to Cleveland's antidiscrimination laws in housing and employment, and there's a country line-dancing group, the Rainbow Wranglers, which meets every Thursday at the Mean Bull.

Read up on the entire list of cities here.