"Religious Trauma Out the Wazoo," Southern Pride, and In/visible Queerness in the Bible Belt

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Multiculturalism and Diversity Education (Table 14)

Abstract

We combined narrative and arts-based methods to explore how LGBTQ+ collegians describe and represent their identities and experiences living in the Southeastern United States, within a geographical region commonly referred to as the Bible Belt. We contextualized our research within queer and Southern literature alongside scholarship converging college sense of belonging, mental health, and academic outcomes. We interviewed and collected participant-generated artwork from nine LGBTQ+ individuals who are currently enrolled in four-year public and private universities within the Bible Belt, and found that their stories often involved complicated relationships with southern pride, religious trauma, and in/visibility. These stories are paramount to understanding the complex, contradictory, and nuanced lives of LGBTQ+ collegians within the Bible Belt.

Authors

• Leia K. Cain, University of Tennessee
  Presenting Author

• Gretchen Cook, University of Tennessee
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer L. Tipton, university of tennessee
  Non-Presenting Author

• Victoria Bradshaw, University of Tennessee
  Presenting Author