Episode 21: Exiled from Ranch Country
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Leaving behind the place you love in order to be the person you are
Growing up, Heather Kitching loved the countryside. She loved the rolling hills, the open fields, the horses, country music. And she dreamed of a home in a close-knit small town, with a rocking chair on the porch and wide open spaces all around.
But there was a problem: Heather was gay. And that wasn't OK in her rural utopia.
On today's episode, Heather shares her story. It's a story about what happens when the place you love becomes your enemy. And it's a story about abandoning an important part of you, in order to build a life where you fit in.
“Nothing in the culture that surrounded me taught me that being gay was ok. Instead, it taught me that I was deviant and immoral, and that God would send me to hell if I ever acted on my feelings. So I’d pray every day for God to make me straight.”
