25 Faces of Fairness: Silas House
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Lexington/Fayette County he/him
Use one queer slang word to describe Kentucky!
Fabulachian (This was coined by two students of mine at Berea College, Sam Gleaves and Ethan Hamblin, in my Appalachian Cultures class, and I think it really captures the spirit of a lot of rural LGBTQ Kentuckians.)
How did you activate and organize your community for equality?
I worked with other community members for a couple years to try to get a Fairness Ordinance passed in Berea. We faced huge opposition and harassment for trying to get the ordinance passed and it failed but the visibility of the LGBTQ population in the area increased because of this. In response to the ordinance failing I wrote the play This is My Heart for You that was performed to sold out crowds in Berea (and later in Louisville, Pikeville, Morehead, and other places).
We had talkbacks every night to create a better dialogue between the LGBTQ community, our allies, and even those who are opposed to our equality. I have also written about these issues for an international audience in publications like Time, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and others. I think I am most proud of trying to expand notions of what it means to be an LGBTQ person in a rural place in my own creative work, especially in my novel Southernmost, my novel Lark Ascending, and in several short stories that all focus on the queer experience in Kentucky. Too often the LGBTQ experience is limited to two tropes in popular media: being miserable and dying or being the party people/best friends. Our lives are more complex than that, and I want to show us in our multitudes.
In the last 25 years, what is one moment that gave you hope for Kentucky’s fight in equality?
When Governor Andy Beshear was elected to a second term as governor. The way we vote is a reflection of our values. Too often Kentucky votes in anti-LGBTQ politicians but Governor Beshear not only talks the talk of allyship, he also walks the walk.
What do you think is next for Kentucky in the fight for Equality?
We have to organize as LGBTQ people to let the legislators know that we’re tired of their anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation, both of which are endangering people’s lives and freedoms. We have to work together and be more visible. I take real issue with gatekeepers in the state who want to downplay the bigotry that so often occurs here (and is visible in the way the state votes) just so they can keep grants and such rolling in. I think denying the bigotry does a lot of damage. If you love a place you must criticize it and hold it accountable to make it better.
What are Kentucky’s greatest strengths when it comes to the fight for Queer equality?
Grassroots organizations. The people are the power. On one hand I hate that the people who are the most impacted by the bigotry are the ones who are having to do the hard work. We have to be out there on the front lines. But on the other hand I am so proud of how we refuse to be silenced.
