Would you guys consider adding a section called Rural LGBT. It is easy to fall into a feeling of isolation living in rural areas when you are LGBT. Not everyone lives in large city and in may help people to feel that they are not alone. For an example, for me to go to a gay friendly club it is a 100 mile round trip. Thank You for your consideration.
I think this is a pretty good idea. There was a guy who ran a website called "ruralgay.com" for about 7 years, before time demands caused him to shut it down. It was pretty popular (the domain name still exists, so I guess he's keeping his options open).
What a great idea. I notice, however, that all the Rural Gay threads peter out very quickly. Most questions don't get answers or even suggestions
Possibly because many rural gays want answers relating directly to them. The nature of this site means that will not happen.
I think many closeted rural people just suffer in silence. I did. There is still rampant jackasses with their stereotypes in some small town areas of my state. The bigger cities, no one gives a damn.
The admin team can certainly discuss this. We are generally pretty conservative about adding new forums, but when we have done so, it is usually to draw specific audiences . An example is when we added the Later in Life forums, which have really increased the number of older members, one of our goals back in 2011. So this is intriguing at the least. I wouldn't expect a quick answer in this, but it will be in the queue for admins to discuss.
I think a rural section would be a good idea. Maybe if conversations don’t continue long or get much attention it would be because rural guys wouldn’t know it existed. However if all of you rural guys keep the conversations active and find a way to let other rural gays know that the area exists, it could benefit a lot of people. I myself am not in a rural area. I am in the Birmingham, AL area. Not rural but a whole other plethora of isolation issues too many to mention. Lol
I realize this thread is old. I am bumping it because I am new here and I am rural. I would follow such a forum section, but I admit I would not have much to contribute to it.
I'm not living in the country, but I can definitely see the need for this. I live in a university town on the edge of a metro area, and the community can seem progressive or regressive depending on which half of the town you are talking to. A number of my neighbors came here from the country, and the attitudes of a few of them helped fuel my fears once I started questioning.
We are aware of this demand, and it is certainly something we consider doing in the future. But, as Chip said, we need to evaluate things slowly, to avoid creating difficulties, instead of solutions. Therefore, while we still don't have a solid announcement about this at the moment, we haven't forgotten about this idea. The feedback is appreciated.
We have made a “beta” thread in General Support for the time being to see how active any future Rural LGBT forum would be. If you have any questions or can offer support or advice, you may do so there. https://forum.emptyclosets.com/index.php?threads/lgbt-rural-support.484182/
