Pride in America’s Heartland

Background Representations of queer identities in early mass media were either entirely absent or were context-poor and negatively valenced (Fejes & Petrich, 1993). Alternative depictions by queer artists during this period served as a counterpoint to news depictions and provided both greater visibility of queer sexualities as well as more empowering and liberatory framing (Thomson, 2018). The present project, a photojournalistic essay with accompanying textual description, centres on the research question, “How can a queer perspective provide visibility to hidden queer histories in small-town America during the 2010s?” Contribution Pride in America’s Heartland visually shows a slice of life in Bunceton, Missouri, home to America’s first openly gay mayor, Gene Ulrich. Far from the urban cores and gay villages on the coasts, Bunceton, population 335, made history when its citizens elected Ulrich as mayor in 1980. As the photojournalist making the images in this essay and interviewing Ulrich about his history, I aim to provide visibility to queer identities in America’s rural heartland and highlight these hidden histories. Significance By publishing the essay in Visual Communication Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal, I illuminate Ulrich’s little-known history and his contribution to his community and to civil rights in the U.S., more broadly. I am also able through my practice to show how a queer perspective can serve as a counterpoint and a repudiation to earlier news depictions of queer people that were context-poor and stigmatising. My essay is one of only four that the journal published in 2018 and the peer reviewers who assessed the project’s contribution and significance stated, “I applaud the photographer’s concept and choice of story focus. It’s timely and warrants attention” and “I applaud the photographer/writer on choosing a topic of such importance. It has social relevance and merit.”