Surviving Conservative Rural America as a Closeted Queer Teenager - with T.Max

Coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer was a lot harder several decades ago. Many people coped with the fear of unsafety by staying in the closet, resulting in the less often discussed experience of coming out in middle age or later in life. While there’s more acceptance and support of queer lives today that makes it a little easier and safer for young people to come out, there are still many parts of the country where being LGBTQ is hard or even dangerous. Local queer community leader, T.Max, came of age in conservative rural America in the 1980s where they coped with bullying and physical assault for perceived queerness by staying in the closet. Their story of survival and their choice to come out decades later at age 50 is relatable for young queer people struggling to survive today, as well as older adults exploring what T.Max refers to as a “second adolescence”.