Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Performance and Configuration of Identity for Queer Appalachian Christians
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
How do queer individuals navigate the social nexus of Appalachian Christianity? Drawing upon 13 interviews with queer Appalachians, ethnographic work in an LGBTQ+ Methodist bible study, sermons from a local LGBTQ+ affirming church, and analyses of regional fiction, poetry and non-fiction, I suggest two means of answering this question. First, I have found that many queer Appalachians perform their identities in manners that assure the highest rate of survival. That is, they split their internal understanding of “self” from external expressions, regardless of how non-normatively they identify internally. Second, their internal self-configuration is positioned broadly within three major categories: religion (focusing on Christianity herein); region (an attachment to Appalachia); and sexuality (delineated by desire and qualified by understandings of normative sexuality). Locating where individuals position themselves within this matrix (i.e. whether sexuality is highlighted over Appalachian affinity, Christian identity over sexual, etc.), helps to determine how and where queer individuals perform and with what level of concern for their safety. Relying on accounts and perspectives of queer and queer-affirming Appalachians, this work amplifies the obstacles faced by queer individuals, a great number of whom struggle to survive within this region to which they feel a longstanding and visceral attachment.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Timothy Miles is a Senior studying Religion and Culture with minors in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Upon graduation in May, he hopes to pursue a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and a JD, pursuing a career in human rights law and theory.
Performance and Configuration of Identity for Queer Appalachian Christians
How do queer individuals navigate the social nexus of Appalachian Christianity? Drawing upon 13 interviews with queer Appalachians, ethnographic work in an LGBTQ+ Methodist bible study, sermons from a local LGBTQ+ affirming church, and analyses of regional fiction, poetry and non-fiction, I suggest two means of answering this question. First, I have found that many queer Appalachians perform their identities in manners that assure the highest rate of survival. That is, they split their internal understanding of “self” from external expressions, regardless of how non-normatively they identify internally. Second, their internal self-configuration is positioned broadly within three major categories: religion (focusing on Christianity herein); region (an attachment to Appalachia); and sexuality (delineated by desire and qualified by understandings of normative sexuality). Locating where individuals position themselves within this matrix (i.e. whether sexuality is highlighted over Appalachian affinity, Christian identity over sexual, etc.), helps to determine how and where queer individuals perform and with what level of concern for their safety. Relying on accounts and perspectives of queer and queer-affirming Appalachians, this work amplifies the obstacles faced by queer individuals, a great number of whom struggle to survive within this region to which they feel a longstanding and visceral attachment.
