Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Marginalized Mountaineers: an intimate ethnographic look in the lives of LGTBQ West Virginians
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
West Virginia was founded on the root cultures of multiple ethnic backgrounds. Many of those immigrant populations came for work in the coal, railroad, or glass industries. These populations brought with them rich folklore and folklife that was shared, adapted, and slowly morphed into an amalgamation of practices and shared beliefs that formed the Appalachian identity in West Virginia. I intend to show the diversity of our root cultures in West Virginia Native American, Scotts-Irish, English/Welsh, German Swiss, Eastern European, Italian, Spanish and African American. Within these ethnic identities lived a another identity whose desires were outlawed and persecuted. People with same sex attractions have existed as long as recorded history has and yet it hasn't been until the last thirty years that they've been safe to be open about their queer identities. In the Appalachian hills of West Virginia the evolution of living out and proud came much slower. Many Fabulachians, as they've been dubbed by queer Appalachian scholars, waited until college to come out in the relative liberal bastion of university towns. My project is a look into the lives of the Fabulachian men and women I have come to know, study, and love over the course of ten years. Only two factors bound these men and women together; the place they call home and their sexual orientations. The common thread that tangles them together to form a community was woven from need and cultivated out of the human need for sanctuary and connection. A sense of place is a strong foundation of the Appalachian identity for the LGTBQ community this must also include safe space within that place which could only be formed through strength in numbers. Safe space was found within the company of others like themselves.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
J. Tyler Chadwell has a BA from Fairmont State University with an emphasis in folklore and a Masters from George Mason University in Folklore. He worked at The Frank and Jane Gabore WV Folklife Center located on the campus of Fairmont State University as a student. He is currently an academic advisor at West Virginia University
Marginalized Mountaineers: an intimate ethnographic look in the lives of LGTBQ West Virginians
West Virginia was founded on the root cultures of multiple ethnic backgrounds. Many of those immigrant populations came for work in the coal, railroad, or glass industries. These populations brought with them rich folklore and folklife that was shared, adapted, and slowly morphed into an amalgamation of practices and shared beliefs that formed the Appalachian identity in West Virginia. I intend to show the diversity of our root cultures in West Virginia Native American, Scotts-Irish, English/Welsh, German Swiss, Eastern European, Italian, Spanish and African American. Within these ethnic identities lived a another identity whose desires were outlawed and persecuted. People with same sex attractions have existed as long as recorded history has and yet it hasn't been until the last thirty years that they've been safe to be open about their queer identities. In the Appalachian hills of West Virginia the evolution of living out and proud came much slower. Many Fabulachians, as they've been dubbed by queer Appalachian scholars, waited until college to come out in the relative liberal bastion of university towns. My project is a look into the lives of the Fabulachian men and women I have come to know, study, and love over the course of ten years. Only two factors bound these men and women together; the place they call home and their sexual orientations. The common thread that tangles them together to form a community was woven from need and cultivated out of the human need for sanctuary and connection. A sense of place is a strong foundation of the Appalachian identity for the LGTBQ community this must also include safe space within that place which could only be formed through strength in numbers. Safe space was found within the company of others like themselves.
