Real Queer America
A transgender reporter s narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states, offering a vision of a stronger,humane America Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit and tie wearing Mormon missionary Now she s a senior Daily Beast reporter happily married to another woman A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn t changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so called flyover country rather than moving to the liberal coasts In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross country road trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South Her motto for the trip Something gay every day Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many .Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times. Read Real Queer America – kino-fada.fr I have so many thoughts about this brilliant book and I don t know how I ll ever say them all in a video Maybe it deserves its own dedicated discussion just to break down the incredible breadth and heart of this story and the queer communities we create in conservative states I know that it has impacted me in a myriad of ways and I will never stop recommending it, and I implore you to pick it up if you want to see the colorful queerness in America today There are so many of us, and we are so I have so many thoughts about this brilliant book and I don t know how I ll ever say them all in a video Maybe it deserves its own dedicated discussion just to break down the incredible breadth and heart of this story and the queer communities we create in conservative states I know that it has impacted me in a myriad of ways and I will never stop recommending it, and I implore you to pick it up if you want to see the colorful queerness in America today There ...This one hit me DEEP, and this is a book that I think will always hold a dear place in my heart Fellow queer folks, especially those in red states this is a must read Samantha Allen perfectly captured the uniq...I found this both interesting and moving As a straight, cis person who wants to be a good ally, this book provided me a lot of insight RTCFull review As a straight, cis person who wants to be a good ally, I picked this book up to give me a broader perspective of the lives of LGBTQ people, especially since most of the media focus seems to be on those living in theliberal coastal enclaves The premise of the book intrigued me, because as the author points out throughout the course of the b I found this both interesting and moving As a straight, cis person who wants to be a good ally, this book provided me a lot of insight RTCFull review As a straight, cis person who wants to be a good ally, I picked this book up to give me a broader perspective of the lives of LGBTQ people, especially since most of the media focus seems to be on those living in theliberal coastal enclaves The premise of the book intrigued me, because as the author points out throughout the course of the book, LGBTQ have created homes for themselves everywhere, even in seemingly hostile places To prove this, she sets out on a road trip with a friend, winding a path across red states to meet up with and learn about the various communitie...This audiobook helped me pin point some of my feelings about queer organizing in the US South and my feelings around being a transplant from the NE But I am not without criticism of this book Many of these are based on my expectations of the book I was expecting the book to be a little heavier on the road trip narrative instead it leans on modern queer history This is not inherently bad, but since much of the recent history is lived history for me I found myself being disappointed that the This audiobook helped me pin point some of my feelings about queer organizing in the US South and my feelings around being a transplant from the NE But I am not without criticism of this book Many of these are based on my expectations of the book I was expecting the book to be a little heavier on the road trip narrative instead it leans on modern queer history This is not inherently bad, but since much of the recent history is lived history for me I found myself being disappointed that the stories weren tof the center T...As a small town Southern queer, I want everyone to read this book Not everyone can, should, or wants to leave their Southern and Midwestern towns Those that stay build a better future for everyone that comes after I hope this is especially eye opening to those in urban enclaves like San Francisco, New York, LA, and Chicago there are beautiful, thriving queer communities everywhere The book itself meanders and doubles back on itself a few times, but I can t fault it too much it is, after As a small town Southern queer, I want everyone to read this book Not everyone can, should, or wants to leave their Southern and Midwestern towns Those that stay build a better future for everyone that comes after I hope this is especially eye opening to those in urban enclaves like San Francisco, New York, LA, and Chicago there are beautiful, thriving queer communities everywhere The book itself meanders and doubles back on itself a few times, but I can t fault it too much it is, after all, a...The story of an endlessly endearing queer trans journalist who sets out on a road trip to prove that middle America is not just as queer, but queerer, than the coastal havens Yes please To start with, Samantha Allen s unique voice comes through so strongly in this book, turning what could be a dry list of statistics and anecdotes into an engrossing journey full of humor, vulnerability, insightfulness and joy Her voice is joined by the voices of her road brother Billy and everyone they meet alo The story of an endlessly endearing queer trans journalist who sets out on a road trip to prove that middle America is not just as queer, but queerer, than the coastal havens Yes please To start with, Samantha Allen s unique voice comes through so strongly in this book, turning what could be a dry list of statistics and anecdotes into an engrossing journey full of humor, vulnerability, insightfulness and joy Her voice is joined by the voices of her road brother Billy and everyone they meet along the way What results is a beautiful tapestry of, well, the real queer america Allen does an excellent job of blending interviews and research with her personal experience to paint an eye opening picture of what it s really like to be queer in red states She makes a compelling case for the idea that America is incredibly queer, and that queerness ispotent,inclusive, and evenimportant in the southern midwestern oases she visit...What really surprised me in this memoir cum travelogue cum sociological study was not how smart it was but how fun I ve come to expect remarkable insight from Allen that s long been on display in her reporting and editorializing on LGBT issues in The Daily Beast Yet something about the long form here liberates her to be consequential and breezy at the same time, colloquial and lyrical, dropping statistics but not too many alongside seemingly throwaway lines of sharp poetic beauty Time is What really surprised me in this memoir cum travelogue cum sociological study was not how smart it was but how fun I ve come to expect remarkable insight from Allen that s long been on display in her reporting and editorializing on LGBT issues in The Daily Beast Yet something about the long form here liberates her to be consequential and breezy at the same time, colloquial and lyrical, dropping statistics but not too many alongside seemingly throwaway lines of sharp poetic beauty Time is mostly measured in dog walks, Allen writes about a visit to friends and queer activists in Tennessee By day we take Doc, Red, and Lilly around the neighborhood in the musty aftermath of the summer rain By night we go to the flooded quarry in neighboring Elizabeth...Our self identity is a complex thing It gets stamped on to us from the community around us including the bars we go to, the churches we prayer in and the malls we shop at Our image of ourselves that others stamped onto us gets formed into shaping our character What we authentically think and desire for ourselves forms the masks that we wear as we present it to the world and ourselves, and it helps creates our personality, who we strive to be and to become despite the distractions, ambiguities Our self identity is a complex thing It gets stamped on to us from the community around us including the bars we go to, the churches we prayer in and the malls we shop at Our image of ourselves that others stamped onto us gets formed into shaping our character What we authentically think and desire for ourselves forms the masks that we wear as we present it to the world and ourselves, and it helps creates our personality, who we strive to be and to become despite the distractions, ambiguities, and the mood of the world that we are thrown into through mere chance and circumstance Bars, churches and malls are dying a slow merciful death They each are disappearing at a faster rate tha... Won in a Goodreads giveaway Samantha Allen embarks on a road trip to show us how LGBTQ live in seemingly LGBTQ unfriendly areas Along the way she visits LGBTQ hot spots and interviews the people who run them or some other noteworthy people about what drives them, why they stay, etc I don t identify as LGBTQ heteroromantic asexual in a hetero marriage but it seemed like a good portrayal of LGBTQ life.The places she travels to are Provo Utah, Texas, Bloomington Indiana, Johnson City Tennesse Won in a Goodreads giveaway Samantha Allen embarks on a road trip to show us how LGBTQ live in seemingly LGBTQ unfriendly areas Along the way she visits LGBTQ hot spots and interviews the people who run them or some other noteworthy people about what drives them, why they stay, etc I don t identify as LGBTQ heteroromantic asexual in a hetero marriage but it seemed like a good portrayal of LGBTQ life.The places she trave...I wanted to like this book .Maybe the problem is that I live in red America and do the really hard work of trying to make it a safer place for LGBTQ people Many days I feel like the work is impossible, despite some gains This doesn t stop me from working toward those gains, but it also exhausts me.Maybe because of that I think Allen mythologizes people like the people I know to too great an extent I also think that she dismisses the good work of people in cities too easily She writes of I wanted to like this book .Maybe the problem is that I live in red America and do the really hard work of trying to make it a safer place for LGBTQ people Many days I feel like the work is impossible, despite some gains This doesn t stop me from working toward those gains, but it also exhausts me.Maybe because of that I think Allen mythologizes people like the people I know to too great an extent I also think that she dismisses the good work of people in cities too easily She writes of her friend Michael that he realized that many of his new coworkers at the HIV AIDS advocacy organization wereinterested in climbing ladders than they were in saving l...Such a beautiful reflection so timely, and something I hope becomes outdated very, very soon I wasn t quite expecting its trajectory, probably mostly because I avoid synopses and reviews apart from identifying something I want to read, and so I was a little surprised that this focused on cities that areor less progressive bubbles in mostly conservative, Southern states I loved the discussions of identity in all its iterations, but particularly that of geographical identity obviously Such a beautiful reflection so timely, and something I hope becomes outdated very, very soon I wasn t quite expecting its trajectory, probably mostly because I avoid synopses and reviews apart from identifying something I want to read, and so I was a little surprised that this focused on cities that areor less progressive bubbles in mostly conservative, Southern states I loved the discussions of identity in all its iterations, but particularly that of geographical identity obviously and the reclamation of areas that are only reported for their unfavorable conditions This hits home for me particularly right now, having moved from St Louis, MO, another locale that would fit in with this book to the rural, conservative Western Slope of Colorado both in hearing constantly from the residents of my tiny town what a terrible place St Louis is, and also living in an area where it is not very safe to be out I love Allen s writing, and ...Gosh this was hopeful I d almost say TOO hopeful, at least in the epilogue, but what a dose of joy this brought me two years into the fallout of my own coming out I especially loved the chapter on found family the intrinsic queerness of ALL relationships in the LGBTQ community, regardless whether they re romantic or not, is something to be affirmed and celebrated And this book did just that.I also appreciated Allen s effort to include all corners of the community, highlighting the diversity Gosh this was hopeful I d almost say TOO hopeful, at least in the epilogue, but what a dose of joy this brought me two years into the fallout of my own coming out I especially loved the chapter on found family the intrinsic queerness of ALL relationships in the LGBTQ community, regardless whether they re romantic or...I cannot say enough good things about Real Queer America Samantha Allen writes clearly and compassionately, and it s clear that she loves the people that she is interviewing and the states that she s visiting This is a gorgeous travel memoir, and it wa...I loved this book These are the kinds of books that I need to read right now so I don t get too depressed with the state of the world.
- 16 April 2018 Samantha Allen
- Kindle Edition
- 304 pages
- Samantha Allen
- Real Queer America