Growing Up Gay and Transgendered in Appalachia
By Alex Hannaford
Apr 30 2011, 9:00 AM ET 6
Awareness about sexuality and gender differences remains painfully limited in much of the region, but some have begun sharing their stories
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/04/growing-up-gay-and-transgendered-in-appalachia/238047/Tyler Watts remembers having a happy childhood: His parents gave him everything he ever wanted, but as a young teenager growing up in Hindman, Kentucky, a small town of around 700 people, nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Watts was also fighting demons. Comments and jokes -- both from strangers and even some members of his own family -- about "gays" and "->-bleeped-<-s" would jolt right to the pit of his stomach, but at the time, Watts wasn't quite sure why.
Looking back, the 37-year-old says he was terrified of admitting who he really was because of those comments he had heard growing up. "I was worried what people would think of me," he says. Watts was born Tammy Watts, but for the last three years he has lived as a transgendered man.
