The Queer Community of Shepherdstown Proves its Resilience — once again.
In November 2024, I experienced my first drive-by slur shouting in years. I was walking down German Street with a friend when the driver of a local construction company truck rolled down the window and simply yelled, “faggot.” It was absolutely no coincidence that this came just weeks after Trump was elected to office.
Being queer is hard, especially in West Virginia. Being queer in West Virginia under the regime of Trump has been even harder.
I’m not going to pretend it has always been this bad, because it hasn’t.
Things were finally starting to really look up for our community before this election, but Trump’s election emboldened all of the suppressed homophobia and transphobia that people were afraid to express under Biden’s administration.
Almost immediately following his inauguration, the words ‘transgender’ and ‘queer’ were erased from the National Park Service website, which includes the Stonewall Inn page. In May, West Virginia Governor, Patrick Morrisey, signed multiple bills prohibiting trans youth from receiving life-saving healthcare and completely ending all public institutions’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in the state. This includes public colleges, like Shepherd University.
While the sheer weight of this change can make one feel entirely helpless sometimes, the Shepherdstown community has consistently shown it can bounce back.
Last year, Shepherdstown was the host of not one, but two No Kings protests. We saw community members come out in the thousands to express their anger and disdain for the current presidential administration.
Shepherdstown also hosted its first annual Pride Parade last year. Between the local queer icons involved and the plethora of local businesses that showed their support, the parade was filled with pure love and celebration of identity.
Local business also showed their support for the queer community by hanging pride flags in front of their stores. What seems like a few small, isolated acts of support quickly become a huge symbol for community resilience.
Last Spring, with help from faculty, Shepherd University students revived the Gender Sexuality Alliance. The club had been dormant for years, but since the revival, we have seen a major surge in student involvement. From marching across campus to hosting the annual drag show, these students have proven that they are an ineffaceable force on campus.
Local churches have explicitly expressed their support for the queer community, with some even walking in the town’s Pride Parade.
When you can’t get away from the headlines about Trump’s blatant queerphobia, when the world starts to make you feel helpless, or when someone yells a slur at you from a passing car, look around you. This little town is doing everything in its power to show you that you are accepted, and you are loved.
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