LGBTQ Lerature: Farm Boys: Liv of Gay Men om the Rural Midwt

Contents:

• THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
• GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY
• A GAY FARMER ON LOVE, ISOLATN, AND DISPTG THE MEAT INDTRY ATRALIA
• THIS STORY OF GAY FARMERS KICKS OFF A DOCERI ABOUT DIVERSE HERO AGRICULTURE
• LGBTQ LERATURE: FARM BOYS: LIV OF GAY MEN OM THE RURAL MIDWT
• GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY
• MEET THE GAY FARMER BREAKG DOWN LGBT+ STEREOTYP FARMG

THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY

“As queers, as gays and lbians, I thk we’ve always been much closer to nature than other people. If the human race is to survive, gay people have to have more fluence. “Whether he sensed I was gay, I don’t know.

But he kept sayg how much he hated gays and that if saw any walkg down the street, he would beat the absolute sh out of them. Can I work for you, and by the way, I’m also gay.

GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY

“There’s no gay ghetto Iowa, and even though ’s not a bastn of liberalism, they let you live your life the way you want here, ” says Rsell, the State Food Policy Project Coordator at Drake Universy. “It’s been great, ” Rsell adds, “bee now everyone wants to buy om the two gay farmers.

It’s not a great way to meet other gay farmers. Everythg is changg this untry regardg gays and I’m not so odd anymore. “What I want to tell you about is beg isolated om a gay populatn, ” Stanis says.

A GAY FARMER ON LOVE, ISOLATN, AND DISPTG THE MEAT INDTRY ATRALIA

“There are bars here, but I don’t want to hang out a du bar, ’s not a great way to meet other gay farmers and I don’t thk there are many up here. “I don’t have trouble beg gay up here, but I do adm would be great if some guy wanted to meet a wonrful gay farmer who mak chee! He chose to live a ral settg spe the drawbacks bee “I didn’t want to live an urban, gay bubble, ” Stanis says.

THIS STORY OF GAY FARMERS KICKS OFF A DOCERI ABOUT DIVERSE HERO AGRICULTURE

For his part, Mossberg is grateful for the gays and lbians who farmed before him as they’ve prepared for him “a betiful life. This is pecially te when pared to cy livg, where folks live close quarters and you’re much more likely to live near a gay or lbian bar.

LGBTQ LERATURE: FARM BOYS: LIV OF GAY MEN OM THE RURAL MIDWT

Image ptn, Claire Pickerg Wakefield library imag the diary wrer speakg a Yorkshire accentA diary wrten by a Yorkshire farmer more than 200 years ago is beg hailed as providg remarkable evince of tolerance towards homosexualy Bra much earlier than prevly imaged. Historians om Oxford Universy have been taken aback to disver that Matthew Tomlson's diary om 1810 ntas such open-md views about same-sex attractn beg a "natural" human diary challeng prenceptns about what "ordary people" thought about homosexualy - showg there was a bate about whether someone really should be discrimated agast for their sexualy. "In this excg new disvery, we see a Yorkshire farmer argug that homosexualy is nate and somethg that shouldn't be punished by ath, " says Oxford rearcher Eamonn O' ptn, The diari were handwrten by Tomlson the farmhoe where he lived and workedThe historian had been examg Tomlson's handwrten diari, which have been stored Wakefield Library sce the thoands of pag of the private journals have never been transcribed and prevly ed by rearchers terted Tomlson's eye-wns acunts of electns Yorkshire and the Ludd smashg up O'Keeffe me across what seemed, for the era of Gee III, to be a rather startlg set of arguments about same-sex relatnships.

Tomlson had been prompted by what had been a big sex sndal of the day - which a well-rpected naval surgeon had been found to be engagg homosexual ptn, Historian Eamonn O'Keeffe says the diari provi a rare sight to the views of "ordary people" the early 1800sA urt martial had orred him to be hanged - but Tomlson seemed unnvced by the cisn, qutng whether what the papers lled an "unnatural act" was really that unnatural.

"It mt seem strange ed that God Almighty should make a beg wh such a nature, or such a fect nature; and at the same time make a cree that if that beg whom he had formed, should at any time follow the dictat of that Nature, wh which he was formed, he should be punished wh ath, " he wrote on January 14 there was an "clatn and propensy" for someone to be homosexual om an early age, he wrote, " mt then be nsired as natural, otherwise as a fect nature - and if natural, or a fect nature; seems cel to punish that fect wh ath" diarist mak reference to beg rmed by others that homosexualy is apparent om an early age - suggtg that Tomlson and his social circle had been talkg about this se and discsg somethg that was not unknown to this time, and also Wt Yorkshire, a lol landowner, Anne Lister, was wrg a d diary about her lbian relatnships - wh her story told the televisn seri, Gentleman knowg what "ordary people" really thought about such behavur is always difficult - not least bee the loust survivg voic are ually the wealthy and has exced amics is the chance to eavdrop on an everyday farmer thkg aloud his source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Tomlson was appalled by the levels of rptn durg electns"What's strikg is that he's an ordary guy, he's not a member of the bohemian circl or an tellectual, " says O'Keeffe, a doctoral stunt Oxford's history acceptance of homosexualy might have been exprsed privately aristocratic or philosophilly radil circl - but this was beg discsed by a ral worker. O'Keeffe says shows ias were "perlatg through Brish society much earlier and more wily than we'd expect" - wh the diary workg through the bat that Tomlson might have been havg wh his the were still far om morn liberal views - and O'Keeffe says they n be extremely "jarrg" someone was homosexual by choice, rather than by nature, Tomlson was ready to nsir that they should still be punished - proposg stratn as a more morate optn than the ath ptn, Tomlson's former home was still there the 1930s (bottom left), but has sce disappeared beneath hog and a golf urseO'Keeffe says disverg evince of the kds of bate has both "enriched and plited" what we know about public opn this pre-Victorian diary is raisg ternatnal Fara Dabhoiwala, om Prceton Universy the US, an expert the history of attus towards sexualy, scrib as "vivid proof" that "historil attus to same-sex behavur uld be more sympathetic than is ually prumed".

GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY

Instead of seeg homosexualy as a "horrible perversn", Prof Dabholwala says the rerd showed a farmer 1810 uld see as a "natural, dively ordaed human qualy" Norton, an expert gay history, said there had been earlier arguments fendg homosexualy as natural - but the were more likely to be om philosophers than farmers. He’s also – and this is where his experience differs om many of his peers – gay. See also: Documentary aims to break silence on gay people farmg.

While 90% of young people “uldn’t give a hoot” if you’re gay the days, there n still be a generatnal gap, wh olr people sometim displayg homophobic attus, he adds.

“Some people still have a stereotypil view of what a gay person is like – whether that’s what they wear or what they want to talk about. But he hop young gay men and women the untrysi will take heart om his experienc.

MEET THE GAY FARMER BREAKG DOWN LGBT+ STEREOTYP FARMG

“People sometim ask me what a gay weddg is like. Gay farmer Ben Lewis (still om ITV News terview).

A gay farmer has opened up about the stggle he faced g to terms wh his inty. Ben Lewis, who liv Wal, told ITV News that he married a woman and lived as a straight man bee he didn’t see a life for himself as gay farmg. “I thought to myself, ‘Well you n’t be gay if you’re a farmer.