Gay and living in the Bible Belt: Author to present cultural research

By Sarah Wilder

Growing up in the Bible Belt can present unique challenges for gays and lesbians. In an upcoming lecture, a researcher will discuss those challenges.

Bernadette Barton, a UK graduate and associate professor at Morehead State University, will give a lecture entitled “The Toxic Closet: Being Gay in the Bible Belt” from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Cats Den Monday. During the lecture, she will discuss sexual identity in the Bible Belt, a term for a region in the southern United States where socially conservative evangelical Christianity plays a key role in the culture.

Her research will be featured in an upcoming book entitled “Pray the Gay Away: Religion and Homosexuality in the Bible Belt.” She writes and lectures on contemporary issues of gender, culture, sexuality and the sex industry.

Barton started researching what it is like to be gay in the Bible Belt during the 2004 election, when the issue of gay marriage was on the ballot. She said there was a lot of visual representation against gay marriage, such as the bumper stickers and ads on television, mainly because of the Bible Belt culture.

She felt she needed to see what the gay community had to say, and hear how they were affected by the election.

Barton said that during the Monday lecture, heterosexuals will have an opportunity to see what it is like to be gay in this environment. Gay students will be able to present their experiences and connect with people who have went through the same things.

“Students should expect for some interesting ideas to be posed,” Barton said. “They will come away thinking about social justice in a different way, along with an understanding of their sexual identity.”

“The Toxic Closet” is co-sponsored by the UK College Democrats, OUTsource, the UK chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Student Government. It is free and open to the public.