Those who choose to stay: Narrating the rural Appalachian Queer experience

“Those who choose to stay” is a qualitative exploratory study compromised of four LGBT youth from rural towns in East Tennessee. These young adults were recruited through LGBT listservs, pride festivals, and word of mouth. Each young adult was interviewed over the course of one to three hours. The interviews were then transcribed and coded using Atlas.ti software, allowing codes to surface from the text. Four main themes were discovered: religious atmosphere, family, coming out, and peer networks.

Religious atmosphere was generally found to be a destructive part of these youths’ environments, making them fear for their safety and worry about coming out to their families and friends. The very conservative type of religion particular to the geographic area also acted as a barrier to one’s own coming out: instilling shame, undermining feelings of self-worth, and causing friction among family members. However, the majority of these youth were able to maintain relationships with their families and listed their family as one of the top reasons they stay in their hometowns.

While there was significant anxiety surrounding the coming out process, every youth reported feeling relief and greater personal satisfaction after coming out as well as articulating the deleterious effects of hiding one’s gender or sexual orientation. Forming peer networks with other LGBT youth and adults was found to be a significant part of the coming out process. Not only did peer networks help to normalize experiences, but also they provided a protective factor against the unfriendly larger culture.

In conclusion, we must continue to support youth as they come out at younger ages, providing information and support. A better relationship between the mainstream LGBT movement, its advocates, and people living in rural Appalachia would be beneficial. When working with youth, it is important to recognize that while religious involvement is generally a strength, some members of the LGBT community may have a history of trauma and victimization in relation to their church communities.