WHERE WE CALL HOME: LGBT PEOPLE IN NORTHWEST, PA

Northwestern Pennsylvania is where many LGBT people call home. LGBT people are part of the fabric of rural and urban communities alike, working as teachers and ministers, small business owners and community organizers, farmers and construction workers. LGBT people who choose to live in rural communities often choose to live there for many of the same reasons that other people do; they value the same, wonderful aspects of rural life as other people, including vibrant and tight-knit community, family life, and connection to the land. Rural communities are where they were raised, where their families are, where they build their lives, or simply where they call home. LGBT people also experience many of the same challenges of rural life, including fewer healthcare providers, declining populations, and limited employment opportunities.

However, LGBT people in rural areas are uniquely affected by the structural challenges and other aspects of rural life, which amplify the impacts of both rejection and acceptance. What’s more, the social and political landscape of rural areas makes LGBT people more vulnerable to discrimination. Public opinion in rural areas is generally less supportive of LGBT people and policies and are significantly less likely to have vital nondiscrimination laws and more likely to have harmful, discriminatory laws. Additionally, the geographic distance and isolation of rural areas makes organizing more difficult, further lessening the ability of LGBT people in rural areas to effect change in their local communities. While this blog focuses on the impact of rural life on LGBT people specifically, this analysis of rural life may also describe the experiences of many people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, and others who might be considered “different”. It is further important to note that many LGBT people are also people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, or others living at the intersection of multiple minority identities. For these communities, the challenges and experiences described herein are likely magnified multiple times over.

According to the U.S. Census, over 62 million people, or roughly one in five American residents, live in rural areas. About one in five rural residents are people of color, and among rural residents of color, 40% are Black, 35% are Latinx, and 25% are Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander, or multiracial. National surveys of rural areas show that between 3% and 5% of the rural population identifies as LGBT, consistent with estimates that 4.5% of the U.S. adult population identifies as LGBT. Latest census data shows that the population of Northwestern Pennsylvania is around 304,391. The LGBT population in Northwestern Pennsylvania comes in at around 12.175.

Overall, these numbers illustrate the importance of examining the impact of place of residence on LGBT people’s (and indeed many communities’) experiences and shows the critical need for advancing federal and state nondiscrimination protections and LGBT-inclusive community services in rural America, where so many LGBT people call home. General societal stereotypes and pop culture portrayals of LGBT people suggest that LGBT people live solely in urban settings, while stereotypes and portrayals of rural communities rarely, if ever, include LGBT people—except as targets of anti-LGBT violence.