Out in the Country

Mary L. Gray is Associate Professor in The Media School, Affiliate Faculty of Gender Studies, and an Adjunct in American Studies and Anthropology at Indiana University. She is also a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research New England. She is the author of In Your Face:Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth and Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America.

Out in the Country succeeds insofar as it turns our attention toward the unique set of challenges faced by queer rural youth as they try to reconcile where they live with who they love. (Daily Yonder) Out in the Country gives hope that times are changing, highlighting the lives of todays rural queer youth through a series of case studies focusing on the efforts of advocates to increase gay visibility. Informative and insightfulyoull be surprised by what you find! (MIX Word) Gray . . . challenges the urban focus of queer politics and media studies, and not solely in her choice of topic. This book has more ambitious aims than simply documenting a neglected population. Her focus on rural queer youth does this admirably, but even more impressive is how she uses her topic to unpack what Jack Halberstam calls the 'metronormativity' of queer scholarship and its implications for politics of visibility - D. Travers Scott (International Journal of Communication) Out in the Country promises to excite and ignite our critical imaginations as it pushes us to reckon with the complexity of queer lives away from the urban spotlight. Gray has done a stupendous job in bringing these stories to light, and in analyzing them with such warmth, humor, and insight. - Suzanna Danuta Walters,author of All the Rage Grays ethnography allows us an in-depth look at GLBT young people in the southeastern United States. Grays book should be read by anyone who works with rural GLBT youth, and those interested in learning about an under-represented, but not invisible, population. (PopMatters.com) In this deft, smart ethnography, Gray not only brings to life the intricacies of rural queer existence, but also dislodges conventional assumptions about gay media visibility, queer identities, and the closet. As friendly, articulate, and challenging as its subjects, Out in the Country is a major contribution to both sexuality and media scholarship. - Joshua Gamson,author of The Fabulous Sylvester We still know far too little about the experiences of queer youth, especially those who live in small towns and farming communities. Grays pioneering work will do much to cure our ignorance, as she takes us along on an engaging exploration of queer teenagers caught in the crosswinds of commercial media culture and local societal and political beliefs. - Larry Gross,author of Up From Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America Young queer people living in rural areas face numerous challenges, to be sure. But they creatively use new media and other strategies to find one another, as Gray shows so well. Out in the Countrychallenges preconceptions about both gender and sexual nonconformity in rural America. - Arlene Stein,author of The Stranger Next Door

• Acknowledgments Preface: Never Met a Stranger 1 Introduction: There Are No Queers Here Part I: Queers Here? Recognizing the Familiar Stranger 2 Unexpected Activists: Homemakers Club and Gay Teens at the Local Library 3 School Fight! Local Struggles over National Advocacy Strategies 4 From Wal-Mart to Websites: Out in Public Part II: Queering Realness 5 Online Profiles: Remediating the Coming-Out Story 6 To Be Real: Transidentification on the Discovery Channel 7 Conclusion: Visibility Out in the Country Epilogue: You Got to Fight for Your Right ... to Marry? Appendix: Methods, Ad-hoc Ethics, and the Politics of Sexuality Studies Notes Bibliography Index About the Author