Tyler Childers and Silas House break new ground, telling an Appalachian LGBTQ+ love story with song and video

Tyler Childers performs at the Railbird Music
Festival in Lexington, Ky. (Photo by Silas Walker, Herald-Leader)

Appalachian LGBTQ+ love stories are just as real as other love stories, and Tyler Childers' "In Your Love" song and video, a collaboration with Silas House, tells that story, reports Monica Kast of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Actors Colton Haynes and James Scully play two men in rural Appalachia who meet and fall in love while working as coal miners in the 1950s." Despite hostility from other miners and community members, the couple stays together, farming and loving one another. House posted on Instagram, "To our knowledge, it is the first-ever country music video with a gay storyline to be released by a major label."

Silas House (Berea College photo)

Childers and House, both Kentuckians, "wanted to tell a love story set in Appalachia. Childers pitched the idea for the music video to House and asked him to work on developing the story. Jason Kyle Howard, House's husband, wrote and provided creative direction for the video. He came up with the idea for the two main characters to be coal miners," Kast writes. "There are personal touches in the video, too. House, Howard and Childers used family photographs as inspiration for outfits in the video, making sure they were true to the period but also true to what people really wore. The cast is also made up of Appalachians and Kentuckians who represented the region."

House told Kast, "There are all kinds of different people in Appalachia and rural America, and they very rarely see themselves in the media, in film or TV, or especially in country music videos. . . . It's a gay love story, yes, but more than that, it's a love story. It's about gay people who love where they're from, and they don't want to leave it. Those men could have left not only the coal mines but they could have left the area. They chose to stay. A whole lot of people have done that, despite discrimination, because they love where they're from."

"At a time when Kentucky has seen an increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation and sentiments, House said he hopes the video will be 'a balm' for people who are hurting," Kast reports. House told Kast: "We just wanted to tell a human story that is rarely seen. Tyler Childers is one of the great storytellers of our time, especially in rural stories. This is another rural story that needs to be seen." Kast adds that Childers' album "Rustin' In the Rain" will be released Sept. 8."

Gay rodeos in Texas include gay and straight competitors and are a somewhat confidential comfort in polarized times

The calf-roping competitors pose for a portrait.
(Photo by Dawn Bottoms, The New Yorker)

Gay rodeos in Texas offer marginalized groups a place for competition and open-minded hospitality. "The urban-rural divide is as politically polarized as it's ever been; fans of gay rodeo have come to appreciate it as a place where rural signifiers—big hats, big trucks, George Strait songs—have a different valence," reports Rachel Monroe for The New Yorker from the Texas Tradition Rodeo in Denton: "The parking lot slowly filled with trucks bearing bumper stickers that said things like 'Been doing cowboy &$#! all day.' A tractor circled the arena, raking the dirt. . . . After everyone stood for the national anthem, an announcer came over the crackly PA system and offered a prayer, asking God to bless that day's competitors, 'the cowboys, cowgirls, and those in between.'"

Mac McMillan, who has been involved with the Texas Gay Rodeo Association for decades, told Monroe, "It started as a social club, and then AIDS came along. . . We did this to raise money, to take care of people. The medications were astronomically expensive, plus food, housing. We had to do what we had to do." Monroe reports, "Mac grew up in rural Texas. He realized at a young age that he was attracted to men, but he didn't see a way to reconcile his sexuality with the country lifestyle he preferred. . . . For Mac, the gay-rodeo world was a revelation. The scene was vibrant and defiant, a place he could feel fully himself. Daytimes were devoted to competition, and in the evening, everyone would gather for some sort of entertainment. . . . At the 1982, Joan Rivers served as grand marshal, ten thousand people packed the stands."

In Texas, political sentiment toward differences in sexual identity can be tense. "Conservative politicians in the state have increasingly turned their attention to controlling the public expression of gender and sexuality," Shaw writes. "This year, the state legislature is considering bills that would prohibit gender-affirming care for trans youth, impose fines on establishments that host 'sexually oriented' drag performances when children are present, and ban classroom teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity. . . . Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the Denton rodeo had a clandestine air. . . . . Nearly everyone I spoke with in Denton had no idea that the rodeo was happening, or even that there was such a thing as a gay rodeo. . . . Partly a response to the unsettling political atmosphere in Texas, where drag events regularly meet with belligerent protesters."

The rodeo is open to all walks of life. "Wade Earp, a longtime TGRA participant (and a direct descendant of Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil), said that he's been happy to see the growing number of allies who come to gay rodeos as participants and spectators," Shaw adds. "In part, that's due to Wade's recruitment efforts. . . . A few years ago, he met some straight female bull riders at the Fort Worth stockyards, who told him, 'The men won't let us ride,' and Wade responded by saying, 'Come to the gay rodeo!'. . . . A half-dozen showed up at the next event, and soon they started bringing friends."

'Culture of silence' envelops sexual abuse of rural kids; training program in Oregon and California seeks change

Photo by Kristina Flour, Unsplash

Wikipedia describes the culture or conspiracy of silence as "the behavior of a group of people of some size, as large as an entire national group or profession or as small as a group of colleagues, that by unspoken consensus does not mention, discuss, or acknowledge a given subject."

Silence can proliferate problems; however, "A program that educates adults in rural Oregon and California about child sexual abuse is increasing the likelihood that victims will get the help and protection they need, according to a new report issued by one of the program’s funders," reports Claire Carlson of The Daily Yonder. "The report, made in collaboration with Oregon State University and the [Oregon-based] Ford Family Foundation, found that adult participants in the Protect Our Children training are three times more likely to know the signs of sexual abuse in children and five times more likely to know how to prevent abuse in their community after taking the training."

Carlson writes, "Protect Our Children participants also reported change in their communities’ norms surrounding conversations about abuse. In the United States, reluctance to discuss the topic creates what the report calls a 'culture of silence' that isolates survivors of child sexual abuse, despite the likelihood that they are surrounded by others with similar experiences. Of the 10,748 program participants who were surveyed for the report, a third said they were survivors of childhood sexual abuse."

“Historically, the topic of sex is taboo, and it’s hard to talk about,” Mary Ratliff, Protect Our Children project director, told Carlson. “The way we talk about child sexual abuse sometimes can inhibit kids from disclosure.” Carlson notes, "This culture is especially prevalent in rural areas, where a 'not in my town' attitude – the perception that small towns are safer – can prevent people from reporting or discussing abuse, according to the nonprofit ValorUS."

"The goal of the Protect Our Children training is to normalize conversations about sex and child sexual abuse. . . The training also encourages conversations among adults regarding child sexual abuse, like asking fellow parents what their closed-door policies are when their child’s friends are over," Carlson reports. "Normalizing those conversations is a key way adults can decrease child sexual abuse, which is usually caused by someone the child already knows, not a stranger, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization."

Carlson notes, "While Oregon has a law that requires child sexual abuse prevention programs to be taught in public schools, nothing exists for adults, even though the program emphasizes that the duty to protect children from sexual abuse lies with adults, not the child." Ratliff told Carlson, "There are tools for kids, but we want to make sure that we instill that responsibility in adults, too. We have to have these conversations and social norms changes and policy changes because that’s what’s going to protect kids everywhere and all the time.”

Appalachian nonprofit's sex education was too sexy for some; sort of harassment that stopped it is seen nationwide

Education group's logo

Sex education in Appalachia has traditionally focused on abstinence and when one group sought to change that approach, it had to stop hosting booths and workshops due to a harassment campaign, reports Maria Godoy of National Public Radio, who says the push against sexual educators is being felt nationwide.

In 2012, a sex-education group called Sexy sex ed began offering workshops to Appalachian youth that focused on a comprehensive sex-education approach. Godoy visited with an educator who was hosting a table at a community art festival in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, pop. 5,206. The table was filled with educational materials and condoms with the group's theme of "CONSENT" emboldened on products. The non-profit group touts a "cheeky, irreverent" approach to sex ed among young people. But this was Sexy sex ed's last event for the foreseeable future:

"The barrage of harassment started in March when conservative activist Christopher Rufo criticized the group on Twitter, among other platforms. He accused the group of offering summer workshop courses for children that discussed graphic sexual practices. Other conservative activists also weighed in." The educator, whom Godoy identified only as Shaylan, said those attacks misrepresented what they taught and to whom: "They put their own spin on it to make it seem as if we were posting an in-person summer camp with five-year-olds, when in reality, the summer camp was virtual. And nobody under the age of 16 attended the summer camp." 

Rufo told NPR in an email that the group was “doing something that was 'way outside the mainstream' and "Sixteen-year-olds are still minors and that the group has a very different definition of age appropriate than most parents."

Nora Gilperin of Advocates for Youth, a national health-rights nonprofit, told Goday that it has seen a surge in harassment and disinformation campaigns against sex education providers since last spring. Gilperin said, “One strategy is to take what is being taught out of context. . . Now many sex educators are afraid to share even basic information like where to get contraception."

Harvard University physician Rebecca Ralston, a native of Appalachian Tennessee who has studied sex education, told Ralston, "The more serious implications here are that people are not going to be using birth control appropriately or at all. . . so for those who do not want to become pregnant. . . they will have very few options."

School-board candidates who campaigned on parental rights see mixed results, a sampling by Ballotpedia finds

Tiffany Justice of Moms for Liberty, at the lectern, says her group
has chapters in 42 states. (Photo by Octavio Jones, Getty Images)

"Conservative candidates who ran for school boards saying they would change what students learn about race, sex and gender, or who opposed Covid protocols, saw mixed results in Tuesday’s election, according to supporters and a sampling of nationwide results," reports Ben Chapman of The Wall Street Journal, citing a sampling of 361 races by Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan election site.

Ballotpedia found that about 36 percent of candidates who opposed schools' Covid-19 protocols, "diversity initiatives or the use of gender-neutral learning materials, won their elections," Chapman reports. "About 28% of winning candidates in the analysis supported those policies or efforts. That percentage is down from elections in April and November 2021, according to Ballotpedia. About a third of candidates in Tuesday’s election analysis didn’t take clear positions on these issues, according to the site."

Chapman notes, "Many candidates received financial support from political-action committees outside their local school communities or from advocacy groups, a relatively new feature in school board elections." The conservative 1776 Project PAC, told Chapman that it has put nearly $3 million into school races since last year and so has backed candidates who won about 100 board seats.

Teachers' unions have been the major players in school-board races, especially in urban and suburban districts, where they are more like to have collective bargaining with boards. "National Education Association President Becky Pringle said most of the candidates in races tracked this year by the group won," the Journal reports. but "Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the Florida-based education nonprofit Moms for Liberty, said roughly half of 270 candidates endorsed by her group won their seats," Chapman reports. The group "has lobbied to curb classroom discussions on gender identity and sex-education issues."

In post-Roe America, some teenagers are stepping up to get and give sex education when their schools are hamstrung

Chart compares states by their required emphasis on abstinence in sex education and the availability of abortion, with squares sized for each state's population of women of reproductive age. (New York Times chart)

A growing number of teenagers nationwide "are stepping up to demand more comprehensive lessons on reproduction, contraception and abortion — and . . . if the adults refuse, are teaching each other instead," Hannah Natanson reports for The Washington Post.

Pregnancy prevention has become more important since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but only 29 states require schools to teach sex education; 30 states require schools to emphasize abstinence as a method of contraception; and 16 states only teach abstinence. But abstinence doesn't work on a broad scale, and many states that have restricted or outlawed abortion are the same ones that emphasize abstinence. That's a problem when about 79% of girls and and 77% of boys have had sex by age 20, and 75% of teen pregnancies are unplanned.

Sex education in the classroom is often "too little, too late," says Rutgers University public-health professor Laura Lindberg, an expert on it. Her research indicates that fewer than half of U.S. teens are told where to get birth control before they have sex for the first time, "and she noted that the teen birthrate in the United States — 16.7 births per 1,000 females in 2019 — is consistently among the highest in the developed world, though it has been declining in recent years," Natanson reports.

Social conservatives have been trying to restrict or remove sex ed for decades, Natanson reports. "And they’re especially fired up now, post-Roe and amid raging education culture wars that have delivered new laws restricting what teachers can say about race, racism, sexuality, gender identity and LGBTQ issues." Tiffany Justice, co-founder of parent group Moms for Liberty, told Natanson that teenagers advocating for better sex ed "are being pushed by activist organizations, whose purpose is making children politically literate rather than actually literate so they can become social justice warriors."

But most teens are "starved for information" and "intensely curious," according to a Utah teen who educates others. Some teens create their own programs, while others work through existing initiatives such as the Planned Parenthood Teen Council program. "The initiative, begun in 1989 in Washington state, trains teens to teach other schoolchildren sex education, then partners with willing private schools, school districts or community groups to host peer-led lessons on topics ranging from consent to contraception, depending on state law and school policy. Since its founding, it has expanded to 15 states, and last year 300 teens volunteered on 31 councils," Natanson reports. "The end of Roe appears to have driven more interest in the Teen Council program, which is poised to expand." One community health educator in Utah's Planned Parenthood chapter said they have had unprecedented interest from rural parts of the state.

Nebraska campaign claiming that sex ed 'grooms' kids for pedophiles is a case study in the spread of misinformation

Many conservatives object to comprehensive sex education in public schools, claiming without evidence that it makes children more vulnerable to "grooming" by pedophiles. The notion first gained a foothold in Nebraska last spring when a conservative group helped incite popular opposition to proposed standards for teaching students about issues like consent, gender identity and sexual orientation, Beth Reinhard and Emma Brown report for The Washington Post. 

It's a case study in how misinformation-fueled claims spread when they're not nipped in the bud.  

Retired pediatrician Sue Greenwald led efforts to object to the new standards in Nebraska, co-founding a group called Protect Nebraska Children Coalition to further her cause. "The message also spread through screenings at libraries and churches of 'The Mind Polluters,' billed as an 'investigative documentary' that “shows how the vast majority of America’s public schools are prematurely sexualizing children,'" Reinhard and Brown report. 

"Greenwald and others who have endorsed that claim acknowledged to the Post that there is no scientific body of research that shows such lessons make children more likely to be victimized," Reinhard and Brown report. "The American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics both back a comprehensive approach to sex ed that includes discussions of sexual orientation, contraception and consent. Leading child abuse experts say that arming children with information helps protect them against harm. Nonetheless, the claim that comprehensive sex ed amounts to grooming has simmered on the right for decades, often fanned by Christian conservatives who disapprove of same-sex relationships and favor home schooling and private schools over public education."

Reinhard and Brown continue, "The foundation was laid in part by Judith Reisman, a self-styled expert who opposed gay rights, claimed that gay people are more likely to sexually abuse children, and spent decades trying to discredit pioneering work by the sex researcher Alfred Kinsey."

Objections to comprehensive sex ed—along with accusations that teaching it will groom children for pedophiles—have become inextricably entwined with smears against LGBTQ people. The movement has also brought about explosive political consequences. It "helped activate an army of self-described Nebraska patriots who rose up against the standards, took over the local Republican Party and propelled a wave of far-right candidates for local and statewide school boards, a Post examination found," Reinhard and Brown report. "Earlier this month, these activists were part of a broader, anti-establishment insurgency that toppled leaders of the state Republican Party."

Sex education is more important in a post-Roe U.S., but state rules vary; see how your knowledge stacks up

Chart compares states by their required emphasis on abstinence in sex education and the availability of abortion, with the squares sized for each state's population of women of reproductive age. (New York Times chart)

Many states have banned or substantially restricted abortion since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. That makes a solid understanding of reproductive health more important than ever for those trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But not all states require sex education to be taught, and 28 states require sex-ed instructors to emphasize abstinence as the best way to prevent pregnancy. Most of states that stress abstinence instruction also have severe restrictions or bans on abortion.

But at least 95% of Americans have had premarital sex, and about half of all pregnancies are unplanned. That means comprehensive knowledge of sex education is a critical resource in preventing pregnancy. See how your knowledge stacks up with a 14-question quiz from The New York Times.