LGBTQIA+

The sixth annual Pettis County Pride Picnic is happening tomorrow/Saturday – despite recent legislative efforts targeting LGBTQ+ Missourians and the pride fest in nearby Marshall being canceled due to safety concerns.

Cynthia Martin grew up and still lives in very rural Missouri. She’s a transgender woman that began transitioning later in life – as she approached 40. She spoke about some of the challenges she’s faced and about her hopes for her future.

PFLAG Sedalia is a community group focused on serving LGBTQ+ folks and their families throughout western Missouri and beyond.

The Springfield Police Department is investigating.

Husbands Jeff Terry and Travis Griffin live in Jefferson City. They spoke about their long and sometimes complicated relationships with God and about the joys of finding a supportive faith community.

Sophie Freeman is a queer woman who grew up in a very small, rural conservative town in the Missouri Bootheel who spoke about how she's found a supportive family of her own since coming out.

May Hall and Perrin Dowse are a polyamorous couple. They're both transgender lesbians in their 20s. They spoke about how being successfully polyamorous is built on intentional communication and trust.

Wives Rosie Geiser and Dottie Mathews are in both in their 70s and have been together since the 1990s. They spoke about the importance of faith in their lives and in their relationship.

Jane Lavender and Hudson Giles-Lavender have been together for decades and were legally married in 2015. They spoke about how they find joy and happiness – even in the face of negativity and political uncertainty.

Kat and Aly Wright are a queer married couple in Columbia. Kat is queer and nonbinary, and Aly is a bisexual transgender woman. They spoke about their different – yet overlapping – journeys with gender and how they’ve supported each other along the way.