Appalachia has long been flattened by national media into a white, Christian, and conservative place. This flattening erases the presence of communities of color and of queer, trans, and two-spirit people across the region. Amidst this ongoing erasure, the pressures of religious fundamentalism, white supremacy, homophobia, and transpbobia continue to antagonize queer and gender-expansive Appalachians, especially Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. These realities have adversely affected queer and trans folks' willingness—and even ability—to comfortably claim their rightful places within the region.
To Belong Here delves into how queer, trans, and two-spirit Appalachian people demand, deny, or make sense of their relationships to belonging in the mountains. Featuring a roster of authors whose identities across race, gender, and class make for a uniquely intersectional look at the area, this collection of poems and essays attempts to provide a more nuanced understanding of Appalachia and what it means to represent it. Themes of environmentalism, violence, kinship, racism, Indigeneity, queer love, and trans liberation course through the volume and exemplify the writers' resilience in reconciling their complex, often contradictory, connections to home.
Through a collective exploration of rejection and acceptance, To Belong Here calls for a more inclusive future in Appalachia—one where everyone can thrive.