Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest (56 page)

A photographer in San Francisco sent me samples of his work celebrating men’s bodies and enclosed a brief note: “Enjoyed your book tremendously. How do I get to know a farm man? If you are ever in San Francisco, I would love to photograph you.”

After reading
Farm Boys,
the owner of a gay resort in Iowa got the idea to host a “Farmers & Cowboys Round-Up” during the Iowa State Fair. “In the evening we will gather around a campfire on the banks of the river to reminisce and tell our stories,” the brochure said. “We are providing a place and a time for farm boys to make a real connection with each other and to celebrate our gay heritage.”

After my
Farm Boys
slide show in Cincinnati, one of the men there offered to give his old Future Farmers of America jacket—dark blue corduroy with gold decoration. During my talk I had mentioned that I had never had a FFA jacket, and that its colorful embroidery had a certain charm. I had also commented that the FFA emblem had inspired the “Fabulous Farm Boys” design on book-promoting apparel.

This generous farm boy’s old FFA jacket arrived in my mailbox a few days after I returned home, and I have made it a part of book-related events since then. His letter said that he had been a state 4-H president and a FFA regional vice-president. “One of my first loves was my state 4-H vice-president. Truly a story of fabulous farm boys,” he said. “As young men whose whole lives were centered around agricultural activity, being gay was not easy. I hope that this jacket serves some meaningful purpose in your efforts to broaden the world’s perspective of who and where we are.”