Hi Ya'll!

[quirkydyke]

Yes, I said ya'll . . . I am a young lesbian from Montgomery, AL (that's an adventure in itself). I heard Rev. Felicia Fontaine (leader of Soulforce, AL) speak here recently and want to become involved in Soulforce - I am devoted to activism and using my career to advance "the cause". I am a substitute teacher by day and aspiring freelance writer when I'm not convincing the kids to complete their busy work. I live with my partner, who is also a writer (newspaper reporter) and our pound puppy Lucy.

[keltic63]

welcome to the forums quirkydyke! post early and often!

[Jamie McDaniel]

Welcome, quirkydyke. I look forward to reading your posts.

I am very glad to see that our local groups are introducing new people to the larger national organization as well! Nice job, Soulforce Alabama!

[Zerbie]

Hi Quirkydyke, I like your handle! Alabama, wow! I only drove through on the freeways a coupla times, and was afraid I wouldn't fit in if I stopped. I look forward to hearing more about life in Al, and Soulforce work out there.

Welcome to the forums! Glad to have ya.

Zerbie

[Ellen]

Welcome! Tell us your most hilarious story about being a quirkydyke in Montgomery. You know people who don't live in the south sometimes just don't "get it!" Did you ever see the documentary "Going Out South"?
Ellen

[quirkydyke]

My funniest story about being gay in the south . . . I don't know if this one is funny or horrifying, I can't decide myself, but . . . my partner and I recently moved. We live in downtown Montgomery, in a beautiful old neighborhood. We are renting, and the house we are in is this huge turn-of-the-century house that has been completely renovated - it's absolutely gorgeous. The man we are renting from lives next door. Before we signed the lease we only knew his first name, John. After we moved we found out his last name - John Giles, president of Alabama's Christian Coalition! To top it off, we also live about two houses down from the governor's mansion - good ol' Bob Riley, Great and Righteous Defender of Marriage. We are only a few blocks away from the capital as well. I have to hand it to Mr. Giles, my partner and I do nothing to hide the fact we are together and still he rented to us and has been nothing but polite and attentive to whatever we have needed done in the apartment. But what are the chances two big ol' dykes would land where we are, in the epicenter of Alabama's political/religious right? I think we are here for a reason and have the responsibility to use where we are to show those around us that gay couples are just as loving and committed and friendly and "normal" as any happily and *legally* married couple. And what could be a better place for activism?

[krazykat]

How crazy is that indeed. Good luck in making a difference where you are. It can be done and it must be done but be careful and watch out for yourselves and I know God is watching over you as well. He puts us where we need to be sometimes even if we don't want to lol. Blessings Kat

[Shep]

Hi Quirkydyke,
Welcome, and I certainly hope that you and your partner have a nice peaceful life in Alabama. Your story brought back memories of my experience in Alabama, an experience that I had forgotten about but none the less it left a terrible taste in my mouth (figuratively) .
It was the late 1970's and I was referred (by Teen Challenge) to a place in north central Alabama about 50 miles outside of Huntsville, to a place called "The Jesus Loves You Farm". They were suppose to help me "go straight". Well I can tell you that the people that ran it were nothing but bigoted and had great fun at my expense. It was hard enough for me to try and figure out about my being gay and christian without them telling me things like: "You're in the Heart of Dixie now, boy". I spent 2 weeks in hell out in the middle of nowhere putting up with southern un-hospitality. It all came to a head when one night they brought us some donuts and I requested to have milk with my donut, but they insisted that I have coca-cola. (I know that is a stupid thing to fight over) Well it ended up with them pinning me up against an old boat and screaming at me like a Marine drill sargent, while the others stood around us in case I fought back. I was pushed to the ground and told to get to the bunk house and that they would talk to me in the morning. In the morning I told them that I wanted to leave the program, at which time I was accused of trying to take a 16 yr old boy (also at the farm) with me. They told me how much trouble I could get into because the kid was underage, but I had no idea how they came up with that story. I just wanted to leave there and get back home. I think they were just trying to get me to stay there. After my insistance on leaving, they finally agreed to bring me to the bus station in Huntsville. I got all my stuff together and some of the other guys there gave me a few bucks (sort of under the table because they wouldn't allow anyone to give me any money) and I got in the truck and they drove me a few miles down the road and they dropped me off on a country road in the middle of nowhere. I hitchiked my way to Huntsville and picked up the Western Union money- gram that my mother sent me, and got a bus back up north. I have since travelled through the south again and found the people in Georgia and Tennessee to be the most hospitable and friendly, and it was a pleasure to visit those 2 states. Alabama however was a horrible experience, and while I understand that I shouldn't judge all people from Alabama according to my experience, it's still up there in my head. It lay dormant for years, but in a way I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to let it out.

[Zerbie]

Omigosh, what an awful story!! It just illustrates the degree of malice that is still in those ex-gay 'ministries' - how could anyone want to terrorize young people, threaten them, and then abandon them penniless in the middle of nowhere! And that cola versus milk fight sounds psychotic. I wonder if they drugged the cola, and that's why you were supposed to have it? Who knows with people that crazy? Thank god for your friends slipping you some cash and for your mom sending you some money to get home - even WITH their help, you could have easily felt so alone during that experience!

How awful! How ironic that I am sitting here in Mobile Alabama right now, having just spent the first night of my life staying over in Al. (We're in a hotel on our way from Florida back west). I've always had an idea that Alabama is so homophobic, and your story didn't exactly dispel that notion!
On the way to Fl last week, I was SO nervous in MS and AL; I was wearing pride jewelry (which I do every day) when we stopped at a gas station and two busloads of Christian outreach people stopped there at the same time, and I was so nervous wondering if they were of the anti-gay variety. I sort of, hid, until it was time to get back in the car.