Gays? In the Country?

In The Country? Words by Angela Molina Photos by K Bodrock A new rainbow wave is sweeping the United States, rising from the unusual epicenter of South Bend, Indiana. Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the Democratic presidential primaries in March 2020, but he holds the unique distinction of being the first openly gay person to launch a presidential campaign and win the Iowa caucus. Buttigieg hails from Indiana, a Midwestern state that does not offer discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ citizens, according to Equaldex. He is far from the only queer person to come from a rural background. Celebrities Megan Fox, Alice Walker and Laverne Cox all came from similar communities. It is a common belief that queer people live almost exclusively in urban areas. While cities such as San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon feature higher–than–average queer populations, 15% to 20% of the total U.S. LGBTQ+ population can be found in rural areas, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) reports. Between 2.9 million and 3.8 million LGBTQ+ people live in rural areas in the United States, MAP found in its 2019 report, “Where We Call Home: LGBT People in Rural America.” Many people in these communities face unique challenges. In rural areas, there are fewer LGBTQ+ organizations and services available. Many may find themselves isolated within their communities. Jacob Dudley, a senior peace and conflict studies major at Kent State University, says there was not much of a queer presence in his hometown of Rootstown, Ohio.

“There aren’t any queer spaces there,” he says. “It’s just there happens to be some LGBTQ+ students and people living in Rootstown.”

Although Rootstown lacks these spaces, Kent is a short drive away. Many rural communities, however, are distant from each other, and this presents challenges to queer people who lack the ability to travel long distances. Even when a queer person can find the means to travel, the problems do not end there. According to MAP, queer communities in rural areas may have a more difficult time finding the finances, staffing and community support necessary to maintain LGBTQ+ organizations at all.

MAP reveals that Minnesota, West Virginia, North Dakota and Louisiana lack any LGBTQ+ community centers. Lack of services can be especially detrimental to queer youth in rural areas. A survey by MAP of 120 LGBTQ+ centers in the United States found that 83% had specific programming for queer youth.

Queer youth are even more vulnerable to the isolating effects of rural communities than adults. While MAP found that there is “limited evidence that LGBT youth in rural communities experience more family rejection” compared to urban LGBTQ+ youth, they still face different challenges when they come out. Parents of queer youth, for example, may have less access to resources, and youth who do face rejection, such as in school, may have fewer alternatives available to them.

According to MAP, queer students are also more likely than their cisgender, heterosexual peers to report being bullied based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. University of Akron student Megan Parker, a senior communications major, identifies as pansexual and says some friends were unsupportive of her coming out. After confiding in a friend while in middle school in Mohicanville, Ohio, Parker says that “it ruined our friendship.”

“She actually dropped me out of her life,” Parker says. found in its report, “The 2017 National School Climate Survey,” that 59.5% of queer students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and 44.6% of students felt unsafe because of their gender identity. The study concluded that queer students in rural schools faced a more hostile school climate than in urban or suburban schools.

Additionally, MAP cites that the social and political climate of rural America exposes queer people to more discrimination. Rural states are more likely to lack discrimination protections for queer people, and they are less likely to be represented in local governments.

Kent State alum Bee, who asked to be referred to by their nickname only, says that queer people in their home community, which they asked to remain unnamed, were often unfairly targeted as scapegoats. While Bee generally found a climate of indifference towards queer people in their community, backlash against queer individuals could be swift and severe, akin to a witch hunt, if unfortunate events occurred.

“It’s like there would be an explosion,” they say. Bee recounted an instance in which an older lesbian couple that lived in a nearby town experienced a personal tragedy. They say that a church leader in the same town blamed the couple for their loss, claiming that this was what happened when they “let these people into the community.”

Often, queer people in rural communities who are out may experience a phenomenon known as “increased visibility.” Increased visibility, as stated by MAP, means that in areas with lower populations, individuals who are different more easily stand out and are more vulnerable to discrimination. According to Bee, queer individuals in their community often waited until they moved away to come out to lessen potential backlash. Even in the community they currently live in, Bee experiences hostility from strangers who suspect they may be queer.

In spite of these challenges, queer people may forge support systems and experience positive outcomes. Support from friends and family can alleviate the challenges of discrimination and isolation. For Parker, her family was very supportive of her coming out.

“Most of my family on my mom’s side was my support system,” Parker says. Parker has attended Akron Pride for the past two years and marched with her mother’s side of the family both years.

Others, such as Bee, carved out their own spaces. After putting up a Pride display in the library they work at, Bee was approached by young people in their town who wanted to start a support group for queer people. Now, in their small town of 3,000, they lead a group that meets twice a month at the library. Helping create the space makes them feel good, Bee says, and that teenagers in the area know that they are supported.

Similarly, Dudley wishes to create a Gay Straight Alliance in his community.

“I think it’s important to give young people – not even LGBTQ young people, but young people in general – a space to meet and interact with the community,” he says.

Dudley hopes that a GSA will give queer youth a space to feel accepted, find resources, connect with others and get a better sense of the community.

The experiences of queer people in rural areas are as wide and varied as the community itself. Despite unique difficulties, many queer people find a home for themselves in rural areas for many of the same reasons cisgender and heterosexual individuals do.

Bee points out that queer people should not always feel they must flee their rural communities.

"MAP reveals that Minnesota, West Virginia, North Dakota and Louisiana lack any LGBTQ+ community centers."