Mountaineers, Mountain Queers: the affect of Appalachian environmental activism on gender and sexuality norms.

Activism in Appalachia has, by turns, united and divided residents of the region – embodying or challenging the common culture. In the wake of the long-winded decline of the unions, less organized forms of activism have taken hold and built cultures of their own. Within these enclaves of activists and treehuggers, one mainstay of their camps and over-full group houses is a deconstruction of gender and sexuality norms found elsewhere in Appalachia. Transgender folks, queer couples, polyamorous relationships, non-gendered pronouns, and other diverse expressions of love and identity often find normalcy in these circles, even for those who were born and raised here. What is it about this grassroots environment that prompts or allows such gender and sexual diversity? How has it affected local activists\u27 perceptions of themselves, and their places in their home societies? Through interviews with activists in the struggle against mountaintop removal coal mining and other forms of environmental exploitation, I hope to illuminate the role of this fringe community in Appalachian participants\u27 self-discovery of body, mind, and relationship