Queer Rural Stories
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adoption trailblazer
Lawrenceburg, KY
Jennifer Crossen was born in 1957 in Yokosuka, Japan, where her father was stationed as a doctor in the U.S. Navy. At three, Jennifer’s family...
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Trans Woman, Vietnam Veteran, Dakota Tribe Member
Rapid City, SD
Blair Greybull was born on August 24th, 1949, in Fort Yates, North Dakota, within the tribal headquarters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Raised in...
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actor, dancer, music director
Gun Barrel City, TX
Jim Gribben was born in 1943 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Though his childhood was difficult, Jim’s “small but mighty” mother taught him strength and resilience. As...
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Former CEO of Los Angeles LGBT Center
Los Angeles, CA
Lorri L. Jean was born on March 7th, 1957 in Boise, Idaho. She was the eldest child on the family farm, and she was handed...
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international human rights filmmaker and activist
Eureka Springs, AR
TrellaLaughlin was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1937. After her mother died, Trellagrew up in her grandmother’s boarding house. Trella’s family was white. Her primary...
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Trans Wilderness Survivalist
Challis, ID
Sophia Margeaux was born Jon Winegarner in Hettinger, North Dakota in 1953. (Editor’s note: Sophia continues to use both names in different contexts. Sophia also...
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physician, HIV/AIDS activist, foundation starter
Honolulu, HI
David Bruce McEwan, M.D., was born in Manitoba, Canada in 1946, and raised in Henrietta, a suburb of Rochester, New York. At the age of...
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TRANS LEGAL ACTIVIST, FAITH RECONCILER
Washington D.C., DC
Shannon Minter was born on Valentine’s Day, 1961. He grew up female in a close-knit family and faith community in East Texas. In high school,...
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gay bar owner, AIDS care provider
Jackson, MS
Jack was born in Pelahatchie, Mississippi in 1944. His father owned a logging and lumber business, and later a small engine repair shop. Jack’s mother...
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Groundbreaking folk and protest musician
Ukiah, CA
Holly Near was born on June 6th, 1949 in Potter Valley, California, a remote enclave in Mendocino County, and grew up on a farm where...
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Teacher, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) organizer
Portland, ME
Betsy Parsons was born in 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents soon moved to Streator, a small Illinois corn town, where her father practiced medicine...
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AUTHOR, "A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO INTERSEX", ARTIST
Tucson, AZ
Jay Kyle Petersen was born on May 26, 1952 in Pipestone, Minnesota. He was a 46 XX SRY gene negative Male — he had a...
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Co-founder, Southerners on New Ground
Little Rock, AR
Suzanne Pharr was born in 1939, the youngest of eight kids, and raised on a farm near Lawrenceville, Georgia. From day one, she was in...
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LAKOTA TWO-SPIRIT ELDER, MENTAL HEALTH WORKER
Rapid City, SD
Michael Pourier (she/they) was born on October 20, 1967 in Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota. Her name is Wawakanomani, which means everything she walks on...
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rural men’s circle founder
Centerville, MN
Don Quaintance was born in 1941 on a farm in Cherokee, Iowa. He was the oldest of eight children in a working-class family that moved...
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