Bernadette barton pray the gay away: the extraordinary lives of bible belt gays

Among the biggest battles gay people living in conservative areas struggle with is whether, when, and how to come out to come out is to risk rejection, abuse, abandonment, and loss of one’s job, friends, even, in some extreme cases, one’s life and, unlike most members of other minority groups, for example women and people of color, many gay people can “pass” as members of the dominant group—heterosexuals even those gay people who are gender non normative, for example a “butch” woman or a “femme” man will be treated by others as heterosexual in many circumstances out of politeness especially