PFLAG Sedalia is a community group focused on serving LGBTQ+ folks and their families throughout western Missouri and beyond.
Cassie Brown is the president of the organization and Tommie McKinney is a newer member. They spoke about the importance of connection and building one’s own supportive community.
For the month of September, we're focusing on the health of those living in west and west central Missouri.
Cassie Brown: So, I’ve lived in large urban areas. I've actually come home to this area, and one of the things that I've noticed – and I would really love for Tommy to chime in on this, as well – but research and my personal experience show that one of the differences with being queer in a smaller or rural area is visibility, in kind of a backwards way.
Sometimes you can be the only lesbian, the only trans man, the only bisexual that someone in in your church may know, or someone in your neighborhood may know, or someone in your whole town may know, and suddenly you find yourself speaking for that.
But it can also be an incredible privilege to form those relationships, and people, I think, sometimes, are willing to take you more on an individual basis.
Tommie McKinney: And they're curious. They want to know why? All about being transgender, and I answer that as best I can, but I once heard it said, and it's so true, if you've met one transgender person, you've met one transgender person.
We're all very unique, just like the whole rest of the world, but I also know that this saved my life, and I was glad to be able to get the services locally that I needed to do this.
Cassie Brown: So, our experience so far has been a lot of people seeking support for themselves or for their loved ones.
What we've discovered is that a lot of folks who are there as parents want the grace to be able to not know all the right words, and I think that that's something we've strived for – is to allow people that grace to learn
Tommie McKinney: The questions that people ask – I love to tell my story, as you well know – but the questions, truly it's not just a happenstance question. They are actively listening when you talk and tell about what they ask about.
And one of the things that PFLAG provided to me that has been so amazingly useful is their flyers and just their website. There is so much good information there.
And it's not just for me. It's from everybody. It's from lots of different peoples, lots of different cultures, religions, different queernesses. So, that it's a fabulous resource, and it's home. It's just home.
