Appalachian Women's Alliance

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Rema Keen is the seventh generation to have grown up on land nestled in the mountains of southwest Virginia. "It was a small coal mining town. A trailer functioned as the bank; there was a post office, a school and a gas station/ grocery store. It was tiny."

Despite strong ties to her family, Rema knew that one day she "was going to leave and see what the world was all about." She went away to college, fell in love with her partner and became a successful landscaper and professional storyteller. Although she now lives four hours from those mountains, she remains tied to the region and the people there--but this time in a way she had never imagined.

Rema is one of a handful of out lesbians in the Appalachian Women's Alliance. The group formed in 1993 to challenge the poverty and violence which had succeeded in keeping women--many of whom were lesbians--voiceless, afraid, and isolated in the expansive mountains of Appalachia. Comprised of low-income and working women organized in regional "circles," they travel tirelessly throughout the area confronting economic injustice, violence against women and homophobia.

The organization officially adopted homophobia as one of its primary issues in 2001. They lost some members as a result, but the gains for the organization and the region have proved immeasurable. They hired Sue Massek, a gifted cultural worker, who founded the Lesbian Circle. (Already in existence were the Young Women's Circle, the African American Circle, and the Cherokee Circle) Sue trained Alliance members, including Rema, and together they traveled throughout the region, meeting with clusters of lesbians who stayed on the land--and in the closet.

The Alliance understands these women. "Feeling different and alone in a small place is not easy," says Rema, "The women in these mountains have no connections, no resources and no outlets. They're surrounded by good old boys and bible thumpers, who can be verbally abusive and physically dangerous. It's suffocating and painful" So when Rema and her colleagues reach out, they do so slowly, taking their cues accordingly. Some residents take pamphlets; others stay to talk; while others, afraid of violent reprisals, log onto the website and connect that way. The connections are working.

In Willisburg, Kentucky, after homophobic graffiti appeared in town, women registered the county's very first hate crime complaint. In Clinchco, Virginia, Alliance activists doubled the voter turnout in their district, and for the first time ever, their community voted Democratic.

After Alliance members participated in a series of powerful homophobia workshops as a group, straight women worked side by side with lesbians to develop a performance piece on the subject for universities throughout the region. The Alliance's study, "A Herstory of Poverty in Appalachia," provided women with a broader context in which to analyze their own lives and situations. And lesbians, some of whom had never dared to tell their stories, are contributing to the Appalachian Women's Journal, inspiring others living in isolation to break their silence too.

The Appalachian Women's Alliance is a grassroots coalition of low-income and working women organized in regional "circles" that confront economic injustice, violence against women, racism and homophobia. www.appalachianwomen.org

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