Country Queers

• The Battle Over Water Rights in Cuyama, CA

  About halfway between Santa Barbara and Bakersfield, California - on the ancestral lands of the Chumash people - lies a remote and strikingly beautiful high desert valley named Cuyama. The Cuyama Valley finds itself in the middle of a tense and complicated battle over water rights. A battle where all of the residents, farmers, ranchers, and even the rural underfunded school district, have been pitted against the world's largest corporate carrot growers: Bolthouse and Grimmway.  The Cuyama Water Basin is one of 21 critically overdrafted basins in the state of California. Since 2020 Cuyama Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency has been developing and implementing a Groundwater Sustainability Plan in accordance with state requirements aimed at bringing all critically overdrafted basins back into sustainable use by 2040. But in 2022, Bolthouse and Grimmway, aka Big Carrots, filed a lawsuit to ask the courts to determine water rights in the valley.  The Big Carrot lawsuit required all the small family run farms and ranches in the valley, the town water board, and the local schools to hire attorneys to defend their water rights in court. The lawsuit also inspired some community members to create a Boycott Carrots campaign.  In this episode you'll hear excerpts from oral history interviews with six residents of the Cuyama Valley, digging into what they love about Cuyama, how the water crisis has impacted their personal lives, what solutions might be, and what they hope for the future of the valley   CREDITS: This episode was created and produced by Rae Garringer in 2025 during their time as a Cuyama Water Justice Fellow. The Cuyama Water Justice Fellowship is hosted by two local organizations Blue Sky Center and Quail Springs thanks to funding from the California EPA. Endless gratitude to everyone who shared some of your story through interviews: Sara Nuñez, Noemi Vera, Raul Monzón, Tristan Zannon, Brenton Kelly, Alisha Taff, and Emery Johnston. And to Rosalba and Anthony Fonseca for your interpretation and translation work, and to Sandra Uribe for helping coordinate and schedule Spanish language interviews. Special thanks to Liz Fish, Jack Forinash, Mayela Rodriguez, Noé Monte, Melanie Shaw, Nick Shaw, Brooke Swertfager, Pam Baczuk, Brenton Kelly, Blaine Morris, and Teddy Nava.

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• Rural Queer Maine Audio MAGIC!

  Q: What happens when you bring a gaggle of country queers together for a weeklong audio workshop and retreat in rural coastal Maine? A: Rural Queer Maine Audio MAGIC! In November 2024 a group of rural and smalltown LGBTQ+ folks from across the state of Maine, spent 5 days together in Passamaquoddy territory / Washington County on the coast of Maine at a rural queer audio retreat. The retreat was organized and hosted by Out in the Open -  a multiracial, majority working class, grassroots, movement and capacity building organization based in Wabanaki territory working throughout the states of Vermont and Maine to connect rural LGBTQ+ people to build community, visibility, knowledge and power.  Participants produced short audio pieces, start to finish, over the five days that we spent living, learning, eating, walking, and laughing together. These pieces were produced with support from Out in the Open staff HB Lozito and Grace Johnston-Fennell, Michele Christle of Torchlight Media, and Rae Garringer of Country Queers. *****These pieces contain audio that may be challenging to hear or bring up emotions for listeners. Please take care of yourself!*****

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• Preorder the Book! Support the Book Tour!

  Country Queers: A Love Letter arrives October 8, 2024 from Haymarket Books! Listen to Rae multitask morning goat chores while telling you about the book and the fundraiser we've launched to support the costs of book tour travels. Featuring: ducks, goat bells, goats chewing, Rae walking through tall grass, and rambling without a script in the milking shed! You can preorder the book here and please help us bring the book tour to rural areas and small towns all over by supporting our Fundraiser!    

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• Trans People Belong in West Virginia

  In 2023 state legislatures across the South and Midwest have introduced over 400 bills attacking trans adults, trans kids, and drag queens. This legislative session in West Virginia saw the introduction of more than 15 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bills. On Thursday March 9th, 2023 trans organizers held a rally at the Capitol Building in Charleston, WV in protest of House Bill 2007 which would enforce a total ban on gender affirming care for minors in the state. Over 100 people packed the upper level of the capitol building to protest outside the Senate Chambers where the bill was being discussed. In this episode you'll hear interviews with organizers and attendees of the rally, and audio from a powerful afternoon of queer and trans rage, grief, joy, and laughter in the heart of a state often ignored by the national left.  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This episode talks about suicide. Please take care of yourself while listening, and if you or someone you know is struggling please call The Trans Lifeline at (877) 565-8860. Or call or text the Suicice & Crisis Lifeline at 988. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In this episode we are asking you to support  Project Rainbow an organization working to create West Virginia's first LGBTQ+ safe haven and shelter in Morgantown, WV. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Created and produced by Rae Garringer with support from HB Lozito from Out in the Open. Editorial advisory dream team: Hermelinda Cortés, Lewis Raven Wallace, and Sharon P. Holland. Music by Tommy Anderson. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * If you'd like to support this rural queer and trans led and Appalachian based project head on over to our Patreon page.

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• Dorothy Allison

  Dorothy Allison is a 73 year old, white, feminist, working class story teller, who was raised in South Carolina and Florida and now makes her home in California. She is the author of many books including novels, short stories, a poetry collection, and a memoir. In this interview, recorded by Rae Garringer in August 2018, Dorothy talks about memories of growing up "a poor kid in love with language," learning to write, how she got from FL to CA, class, feminism, and the magic of writing. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For this episode we're asking folks who are able to support Lauren Garretson-Atkinson's gofundme. Lauren is an Affrilachian creative hailing from the mountains of West Virginia. She received her BA in Africana Studies & Creative Writing from Hampshire College, and her MFA in Fiction from Virginia Tech. Non-traditional in most ways, Lauren enjoys pushing boundaries and genres in her      writing, working with speculative-fiction, magical realism and historical fiction.  She is raising money to support her in finding the time and space to finish the afrofuturist Appalachian novel she's been working on for years. You can support Lauren here: https://gofund.me/23c5fa12 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To learn more about this collaboratively produced 2nd season check out our websites at www.countryqueers.com and www.weareoutintheopen.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Created and produced by Rae Garringer with support from HB Lozito from Out in the Open. Editorial advisory dream team: Hermelinda Cortés, Lewis Raven Wallace, and Sharon P. Holland. Music by Tommy Anderson. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * If you'd like to support this rural queer and trans led project head on over to our Patreon page.

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