This ral matchmakg service helps gay farmers fd love - Queerty

Contents:

• THE SECRET LIV OF GAY FARMERS
• GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY
• THE PRIT GIVG AN OUTLET TO GAY FARMERS NORTHERN IRELAND WHO FEEL UNABLE TO E OUT
• THIS RAL MATCHMAKG SERVICE HELPS GAY FARMERS FD LOVE
• NEW GAY FARMER FILM HERALD AS ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’
• GAY FARMERS OPEN UP ABOUT HOMOPHOBIC STIGMA THAT LEAV MANY NSIRG SUICI
• DOCUMENTARY AIMS TO BREAK SILENCE ON GAY PEOPLE FARMG
• COUNTRYFILE PRAISED FOR UNVERG HEARTBREAKG STGGL OF GAY FARMERS

THE SECRET LIV OF GAY FARMERS

In the Uned Kgdom, there is only one hotle for gay farmers. Growg up gay a muny that prized tradnal masculy, Inon felt isolated.

Landle, a short documentary om Matt Houghton, featur the voic of gay farmers who have lled to Inon’s hotle. In the film’s rerd telephone nversatns, gay Brish farmers share their ndid and often shockg experienc. There was no such thg as a gay farmer.

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.

GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY

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.

“People sometim ask me what a gay weddg is like. An English farmer wrg more than 200 years ago had more morn and liberal views on homosexualy than many ernments do today, an entry a newly disvered diary shows.

THE PRIT GIVG AN OUTLET TO GAY FARMERS NORTHERN IRELAND WHO FEEL UNABLE TO E OUT

Matthew Tomlson, a farmer om Wt Yorkshire Northern England, wrote January 1810 that homosexualy was nate and that punishg by ath was cel. Rpondg to reports the media about a naval surgeon beg executed for sodomy – a typil punishment for homosexualy the 19th century – Tomlson reasoned that penalizg people for somethg that had been their “nature om childhood” was unfair. The fd has upend historians’ assumptns about historil attus to homosexualy, ntradictg the view that was unanimoly seen as abnormal and dangero at the time – and uld be nsired a more morn attu than those held by the 70 untri around the world that still crimalize homosexualy.

In 1885, all homosexual acts were ma illegal, until homosexualy was eventually crimalized 1967. As many as 12 untri still penalize homosexualy wh pal punishment, and is crimalized by 70 natns, acrdg to the LGBT monorg group ILGA.

Other figur om the era, cludg the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, also mooted relaxg the punishment of homosexualy – but ltle evince had prevly suggted that such views were monplace. “It is extraordary to fd an ordary, sual observer 1810 serly nsirg the possibily that sexualy is nate and makg arguments for crimalisatn, ” add Rictor Norton, an Amerin expert on gay history. Dpe his helple havg been operatn for over six years, Canon Keh Inon says he still receiv a new se every week of a gay farmer or farm worker seekg help wh their silence over their sexualy.

THIS RAL MATCHMAKG SERVICE HELPS GAY FARMERS FD LOVE

The prit timat there are around 800 gay farmers Northern Ireland and is worried that a large number of them are experiencg mental health issu bee they have never openly spoken about their sexualy. Canon Inon says the helple giv men the farmg world someone to talk to, and that “very often I am the first person they ever tell that they are gay and they are their fifti”.

NEW GAY FARMER FILM HERALD AS ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’

‘You don’t hear about gay farmers’A lifelong Christian, Canon Inon me to fah via the Salvatn Army. He me out as a gay man around ne years Inon started the agricultural chaplacy team his native Chhire around 16 years ago. It began on a voluntary part time basis and has grown to prise 16 chaplas workg throughout the unty, a fundraisg group and a support group for farmers – around 40 people the team n by ‘Church Together Chhire’ verg all explaed how the helple began: “About six or seven years ago I worked wh a uple of gay farmers and sudnly h me that you don’t hear about gay farmers – they don’t exist.

GAY FARMERS OPEN UP ABOUT HOMOPHOBIC STIGMA THAT LEAV MANY NSIRG SUICI

‘I thought was gog to take months to get gog – but didn’t’“So I did some homework and I went to the Office of Natnal Statistics basilly to fd out how many gay farmers there were likely to be Chhire alone. I end up wh a figure of about 300 gay farmers or farm workers. “I have done the same lculatns for Northern Ireland so if we work that through there are about 800 gay farmers or farm workers.

The helple ticked along for a uple of years and then the Methodist Church head office London rang me and said the church has had such a bad prs about gay issu ’s about time we put right. Farmg is top of the suici league and mental health problems are rife and one four gay men will attempt suici at some stage of their liv, so if you put the suici problems the farmg dtry wh the gay life as well you’ve got a real recipe for disaster. “Wh the helple they have got somebody to talk to and very often I am the first person they ever tell that they are gay and they are their fifti.

DOCUMENTARY AIMS TO BREAK SILENCE ON GAY PEOPLE FARMG

”He says that a lot of s the fai do not spect the farmer is gay; “They are not Larry Grayson typ, they are normal workg farmers and of urse the farmg muny you have a very good exce for not gettg married if you don’t have to, maybe bee you’ve never found the right person or they are too by workg. Then off urse the police were volved and turned out the fellow was tryg to kill himself bee he was gay and he uldn’t pe wh .

COUNTRYFILE PRAISED FOR UNVERG HEARTBREAKG STGGL OF GAY FARMERS

And the man said ‘my father said if I had known he was gay I would have left him there to die’. Of urse the lad already knew that he himself was gay and he had never admted to anybody.