| OCR Text |
Show 30 busy rural households, parents conferred significant degrees of trust, responsibility, and independence on children and often favored versatility in performing household tasks over a strict separation of gender roles. In addition, the abundance of secluded spaces and relative scarcity of sexual outlets resulted in less preoccupation with sexual object choice and more opportunities for homoerotic activity. In contrast to urban settings, homosexual activity in rural areas usually occurred in the context of everyday tasks and social relations rather than specialized spaces. For example, Neil Madsen's older cousin introduced him to sex while growing up on a farm in Utah County. Although neighboring farm boys taunted him for being an artistic, well-spoken "pretty boy," he was also approached by some who "wanted to mess around.v" Similarly, Gene Topham described growing up in Star Valley, Wyoming, a predominantly Mormon ranching community: "There weren't many kids in my little home town, and the two main (boys) that were in my area, they were good friends and we started fooling around .... The other two kids were from Mormon families.t'" In the absence of such direct experience, voyeuristic activities provided safe opportunities to explore same-sex desire. For several years, David Simms indulged his burgeoning attraction to men vicariously in the shower facilities at Brigham Young University and the LDS Church-owned Deseret Gym. At age twelve, he and a friend bicycled to BYU and entered the men's athletic facility under pretext of using the 33Neil Madsen [pseud.], interview by author, Tape recording, Salt Lake City, 14 June 2004. 34Gene Topham [pseud.], interview by author, Tape recording, Salt Lake City, 2 May 2005. |
