Building A Queer Life In The Country

Published June 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM EDT

Charnel Hunter

Up to 20% of the LGBTQ+ population in the U.S. lives in rural America. That’s millions of people defying the narrative that the only place queer folks want to live is in a city or on the coast. One rural queer person set out to interrogate that false narrative by documenting the stories of other queer folks in the country.

Rae Garringer grew up on a sheep farm in rural West Virginia, and once they left for college and came out as queer, they weren't sure they could ever move back. They believed the story they’d been told: to thrive as an out, LGBTQ+ person, you have to live in a city. But when Rae did move back to rural West Virginia in 2011, they realized that story was a lie.

Rae talks to host Anita Rao about making queer life work in the country – from navigating dating challenges to getting along with neighbors you disagree with. They also talk about stories from Rae’s oral history project, podcast and book “Country Queers,” which documents queer, rural life in 21 states around the country.

Rae is a writer, oral historian and audio producer. They’re the founder and director of the Country Queers project and the author of “Country Queers: A Love Letter.”

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LGBTQ

Kaia Findlay

Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, WUNC's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first ed the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.

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Anita Rao

Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.

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Amanda Magnus

Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.

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Wilson Sayre

Wilson Sayre is WUNC's Director of Digital Content leading our podcasting strategy and initiatives. She has worn many hats in the audio world as an editor, producer, consultant and team lead. Wilson was Managing Producer at Pushkin (previously Transmitter Media) where she helped launch shows like Am I Normal, the TED Interview and The Heist. Before that, she served as Executive Producer at Capitol Broadcasting Company and lead reporter for The City podcast from USA Today. Prior to that, she covered social safety net programs at WLRN, Miami's NPR member station. There, she founded the station's youth radio program. Wilson's work has been recognized by the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize and national Edward R. Murrow Awards. Wilson grew up in North Carolina and enjoys playing banjo and eating chocolate, usually not at the same time.

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