As a queer and gender-nonconforming person navigating life in a region deeply entrenched in Christianity, I find myself straddling two worlds. While I don’t hold any religious beliefs, I cannot deny the profound impact that Appalachian and Deep Southern Christianity have on the queer experience. Not only is religion pitted against the queer community by the government through legislation, but by our neighbors. 

I’m from Huntington, West Virginia, in the “Bible Belt” where it is…