Willow, with long, wind-blown reddish hair and glasses, smiles in a selfie outdoors under a cloudy sky, headphones around her neck.

Op-ed: Being trans in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, isn’t just isolating. It’s also freeing.

November 7, 2026/in Community, Culture, Opinion, Rural/Appalachia/by Willow

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Medically transitioning while living in Flemingsburg is horrifying. You wonder not if people are going to notice the changes but when; there is only so long that you can hide it or at least for me the need to express myself as who I am. Towns like this have a monoculture. Most of them expect certain things: everyone is cis, heterosexual, and a misogynistic God. For most people this is a very comfortable life, but that is not how my brain is wired. Your brain wonders: Will people accept me? When you have political ads, preachers condemning us as abominations, the one thing that sticks with me is I witnessed people believe the litter box rumors. Even before I knew that I was a trans girl, this drove me insane.

How does one find community here of all places? Most of us have to look outside, usually to a college town or a major city, for it. But why must it be that way? Can we change hearts and minds here? I would like to think that but sadly I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. There are not a lot of us, society is a numbers game and we are the prey. All of us have to find safety in each other. Maybe one day there will be a support network for LGBT+ people for small towns like this one, but I fear that it will be met with othering and hostility.

So why am I writing this if it’s so dire out there? I personally believe that one voice can make a difference to at least one person. It is worth it! Or maybe it’s just me trying to tell the world, “Hey, I am here.” Will you take my hand and go on this journey with me? Some of you might not understand it but can I at least have your empathy? I’m not hurting anyone. I can’t believe adults are out here demonizing trans children not because of their moral values but because of a media campaign.

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At the end of the day, we all just want our voices heard. Maybe one day Kentucky will grow to accept us for who we are but that is not the reality we live in, so we must find each other. As a group, we tell each other our struggles and our experiences. I am just one voice but it is my voice and I just want it to be heard. I got lucky that I had help getting started on this journey, but I can’t afford an Uber to Planned Parenthood every three months, so I am forced to use the local hospital for blood work to send out there. It’s been a bit of a headache but worth it in the end even if I end up having to go back there the next week because for some reason they have not sent it.

This life has been a bit isolated but very freeing. The one thing that I can say for certain is that this path has been very freeing. I never thought I would ever reach a point where I am happy for myself for the first time. No matter what happens this is who I am and nothing can change that.

About the author: Willow (she/her) has lived in Flemingsburg for nine years and has been medically transitioning for about nine months.