Summits For Lesbian Farmers Held by USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is holding summits to promote the role of lesbian farmers as a part of its “Rural Pride” campaign.

The agency is working with singer and LGBT activist Cyndi Lauper for a “day of conversation” about the struggles of gay and transgender individuals in rural America. The agency says its wants to change the perception of what it means to be a farmer in America away from the “white, rich male.”

The latest summit, first reported by the College Fix, will be held on August 18 at Drake University in Iowa.

“The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights, in collaboration with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and The True Colors Fund, will engage with LGBT rural communities across the country to host the LGBT Rural Summit Series,” the USDA said. “Each series will offer a unique opportunity for USDA and other federal agencies to share information relating to policies, programs, and services that exist to protect, promote and strengthen LGBT rural communities.”

The all-day summit will teach lesbian and transgender hillbillies how to get subsidies from the government like rural housing loans and “community facility grants.” Bullying will also be discussed.

The summit will talk about “what life is like for LGBT people in southern and rural American communities” and provide information on programs and services that “exist to strengthen our lives and the lives of our loved ones.”

For those unaware of what “rural pride” means, the agency is happy to explain.

“Contrary to widely held myths that the LGBT community is largely living in affluent metropolitan areas, studies show a very different and more realistic picture of the LGBT community,” the USDA said. “For a number of reasons, many people in the LGBT community choose to live, work, and raise their families in the rural communities that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proud to serve.”

The agency said nearly 10 percent of all same-sex couples in the United States live in rural areas and are “actually more likely to be families of color and raising children.”

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