Friendly City Safe Space will host a launch party for “Out in the Valley” on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. at Pale Fire Brewing Co. in Harrisonburg.
“I see this book as especially important in the wake of the recent push by several states, including Virginia, to remove trans people from public life,” said Lorraine Dresch, editor of “Out in the Valley.”
Dresch, an English teacher at Waynesboro High School, said that under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new policies she would have to refer to a student by the gender they were assigned at birth and would not be able to use names preferred by the student for identification.
She said high school teachers need guidelines, but also need to be able to use appropriate pronouns and names to help students with gender identification. Guidelines are also crucial for suicide prevention among trans and LGBTQ students.
Youngkin’s new policies would remove access to transition services. “Out in the Valley,” according to Dresch, illustrates the importance of young people having access to transition services. In the book, authors talk about their experiences with transgender and discrimination.
“I feel like this book is able to put a human face on some of these political happenings,” Dresch said. The book also enables readers who do not have trans people in their lives to better understand transgender life.
Dresch said that the book will make anyone who has been on the fence about LGBTQ realize that they cannot be on the fence “when you realize your governor is rolling back these rights.”
For LGBTQ readers, the book will make them realize they are not alone in their gender identity journey. The book contains 11 narratives in which authors break the stereotype that the Shenandoah Valley is homophobic.
“It’s definitely a book for everybody,” she said.
At Waynesboro High School, Dresch said that teachers and staff are “incredibly affirming of our trans youth.” They honor students’ chosen names and pronouns. Students can use any bathroom and locker room they prefer. Per athletic guidelines, students can be on the team with which they identify. The school’s Equity Council is petitioning to keep current guidelines and not enact Youngkin’s policies. They will make a presentation at the next Waynesboro School Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
“I do see these policies as important for Waynesboro High School. We have a large population of transgendered and out students,” Dresch said. In an anonymous student survey, 10 percent of the school’s 900 students identified as transgendered or LGBTQ.
Dresch said she hopes “Out in the Valley” will stay in circulation. Donations of $15 per copy are requested. She is excited to see the community’s reaction to the book. So far the response has been positive. “People just being represented and seen [in the book].”
Cole Troxell, co-organizer of Staunton PRIDE with the Shenandoah Valley LGBTQ Center, grew up in Augusta County and lives in Waynesboro.
“Being a contributing writer to this book was important for a multitude of reasons. As queer folks living in rural areas, we don’t get access to visibility and community like other folks living in more progressive, accepting areas of the world. Sharing our stories with each other and also having an opportunity to share it with a larger spectrum of people is meaningful work,” Troxell said.
Troxell’s piece in the book is focused on the shifting of identity and taking a winding path to find truth in gender identity and how to live in that identity authentically. Troxell wanted to share with readers that the experience of queerness is not a singular journey.
“We all feel and share different parts of ourselves with the world & I wanted to emphasize that we do a lot of emotional labor for the sake of education, inclusivity and progress toward equal rights and representation in a world extremely divided on whether or not we are valuable,” Troxell said. “You’ll definitely see some of my most vulnerable parts in this story but it was really therapeutic and liberating to share.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
