Lgbtq rural resource center
Racial & Economic Justice > Rural communities
The Rural Pride Campaign elevates and addresses the needs of LGBTQ people living in rural communities across the state. It began in 2014 as a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA no longer partners with NCLR on this campaign, but the work continues.
The goal of the campaign is to challenge the stereotype that LGBTQ people live only in metropolitan areas by elevating the voices and stories of LGBTQ people living in rural America. The campaign also raises awareness of the particular issues faced by LGBTQ rural communities, including increased rates of economic insecurity, lack of family protections, lack of nondiscrimination protections, and the heightened challenges facing rural LGBTQ youth and rural LGBTQ people of color.
The centerpiece of the campaign is a series of day-long summits hosted by NCLR and local partners based in rural communities across the country. These summits focus on the unique needs of the rural LGBTQ community and identify next steps to ensure all rural communities acquire access to the resources they require to thrive.
MoreRural LGBTQ Resources
Marcus Pavilonis
10/4/2018
Ian McKenzie /For The Post
In rural areas like Appalachia, there aren’t as many resources for minorities. Ohio University’s LGBT Center is one of the few places in Appalachia that bids these resources.
Different universities and community areas around Appalachia have developed LGBTQ centers to help the more rural areas. These contain West Virginia University’s Gay Center, Appalachian State’s Henderson Springs LGBT Center and the Appalachian Community Fund.
West Virginia University LGBTQ+ Center
The LGBTQ+ Center in Morgantown, West Virginia, provides distinct resources, such as lobbying, education, programming and social events, Cris Mayo, director of the LGBTQ+ Center, said in an email.
The facility provides resources to students and staff, faculty and community members. Mayo explained that the center provides programming for Appalachian and rural LGBTQ issues.
West Virginia University offers a minor in LGBTQ studies through the LGBTQ+ Center. Mayo even said the LGBTQ+ Center is looking into scholarships it could offer.
“We have student assistantships and are working on scholarships, those will probably st
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COVID-19
- The LGBTQ+ Community and COVID-19, Human Rights Campaign, 2020
This is a resource developed by the Human Rights Campaign that highlights the distinct challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ people during the COVID-19 pandemic. - Fostering Inequity: How COVID-19 Amplifies Dangers for LGBTQ+ Youth in Care, Children’s Rights, 2020
Developed with extensive input from LGBTQ+ young people currently or formerly in foster concern or experiencing homelessness, this report identifies the ways in which the pandemic is amplifying some of the risks for LGBTQ+ youth in child welfare systems and proposes practices to mitigate them. - How COVID-19 is Impacting LGBTQ Youth, the Trevor Proposal, 2020
The Trevor Undertaking conducted a poll among a national sample of 600 LGBTQ Youth, 175 Black LGBTQ Youth, 600 Straight/Cisgender Youth, and 196 Direct Cisgender Youth. Their findings show that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the mental health of LGBTQ youth, presenting them with unique challenges
Where We Call Home: LGBT People in Rural America
Popular culture images of LGBT people advise that most LGBT people live in cities or on the coasts. Yet an estimated three million or more LGBT people call rural America residence. The Movement Advancement Venture released a new announce, Where We Call Home: LGBT People in Rural America,which examines the structural differences in rural animation and their unique impact on LGBT people in rural areas, who are both more vulnerable to discrimination and less fit to respond to its harmful effects.
Among other challenges, rural LGBT people are less likely to own explicit nondiscrimination protections, are more likely to inhabit in areas with religious exemption laws that may allow service providers to discriminate, and have fewer alternatives when facing discrimination, as detailed in a new report released today. Although LGBT people in rural areas face many of the same challenges as their neighbors, they experience different consequences, and the many structural challenges of living in rural communities can often boost LGBT people’s experiences of both acceptance and rejection.
The report has three key sections, examining how
Mission and Values
The Queer-Oriented Rural Resource Network (QORRN) is dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ individuals in rural communities access the resources and services they need.
We value the significant work that is happening on the ground in rural communities all across America. Our aim is to elevate the profile of existing resources and to amplify their messages so that people in need can find them easily.
We recognize that the LGBTQ+ communities are expansive and expanding. We struggle to include resources that attend to a expansive variety of needs, identities, and experiences.
Importantly, we perceive that struggles are interconnected: the quest for Gender non-conforming liberation is intrinsically associated with the quests for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Immigrant liberation. Black Lives Matter. Black Queer Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter.
Our Approach
We serve rural Queers in the accompanying ways:
- Resource Mapping. Our volunteers look for LGBTQ+Focused and LGBTQ+Friendly resources in rural areas. We publish details about the providers we find, including addresses and phone numbers, mission statements, and other pertinent information.
- Community Engagement. We colla