Queer Rebellion in the Piney Woods
"Queer joy is those small acts of defiance; things that we do as a community that nobody knows, that are ours." -Adam, nurse and board president of Kin∙dom Camp
On 2/22/26 I met with Adam (he/him), from Marshall TX, to talk about growing up and healing in the piney woods.
This interview is special for so many reasons. First- it is the 20th interview for The Queer Joy Project! Because we have reached an important milestone I want switch up some of the content and formatting of the interview posts. I’ll still be sharing Queer East Texas history and empowering people to be storytellers, maybe just in some new ways!
Let’s dive into our interview with Adam!
- Carolina (she/her)
Growing up
“When I bring anyone to East Texas, I have to take them to Caddo Lake. I think this is where my love of nature comes from now. I spent so much time in church growing up. I was looking for somewhere to fit in and looking for something that I did ‘well.’ There is so much trauma that comes from growing up in an evangelical space, and my chosen family now and I share a lot of that same type of trauma. Nature is what I trust and that's where I feel like I'm in church.
Clover is still so nostalgic to me. For me, this is the wildflower, this is the Texas State flower. I love it so much because it's soft and it's really pretty. I knew spring was here when this was here. Clover will always be East Texas for me.
A night at Decisions
In the early 2000s in Longview, we didn't have RMC, that didn't exist. Our bar was called Decisions.
I’m 19/20 and I go to ETBU, and there is nothing more terrifying than walking into Decisions and another student is there that you know. Dom. And you’re, like, “Fuck, I’m caught!”
It was such a safe space for us. We danced, and we laughed and we met other Queer people because we didn’t know very many at the time, and we made family, and we had a lot of sex and then also took care of each other in a lot of ways too.
Acts of Defiance:
At ETBU, I was the president of our Texas Nursing Student Association delegation. I was really proud of this because we put these big ribbons, representing all the people in the world that were living with HIV or AIDS in front of the nursing building. This was my little committee here on the side, putting it all together. Everybody was so happy to do it and it was supporting me because I was out at this time. It was a big part of supporting me, but also making a big statement at a big Baptist college too.
It cost me $7 dollars to go see Brokeback Mountain at Tinseltown in Shreveport, it probably was only showing in Shreveport and not in Longview, but it definitely never came to Marshall. It was a big deal. Like, it was a really big deal. I remember just being able to go to the movies to see gay people on TV in whatever capacity was cool and it was definitely talked about a lot.
I found kin∙dom camp, I met them. I'm like, “all right, I'm in, let's do this." And that first year of camp was their second year of camp. I get there and I know the town and it's very much East Texas. I'm in these pine trees and I am 12 years old again. Camp is such a sacred, Queer space for us and me as a person. The camps that I grew up going to were Boy Scout camp and church camp. I wasn't out during those times, but those were some of the best weeks of my life where I had the most amount of fun, and where I just got to laugh and play and not be serious.
I am smelling all of the smells of the pine trees and the grass and the bugs, and all of the things that I needed and wanted when I was that kid with just being Queer and just being gay and just being me, and it is so healing. Wearing a dress in the pine trees and a sensible wedge, as I always say, stomping around in those trails. It fixes something inside me- that little boy that was like, “I want to play with my mom's makeup and I also want to wear these high heel shoes or that dress is so pretty.” And that young adult, even after I was out, that was like, “I want to do this, but that might be too gay.
I feel like all Queer people in East Texas are special. I am who I am because of Marshall and East Texas, and in spite of it as well, because this area really instilled in me good qualities and things that I'm really proud of and it also showed me things that aren't okay, and that we can do better.”
- Adam (he/him)
Get your history out of the closet!!! Message me here, insta @queerjoyetx, or facebook to set up an interview. If you don’t- history will say we weren’t here or Queer :(
Also contact me if you want to set up a ETX Queer history presentation for your club, org, or girls night!
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Thank you so much for sharing this story -- my then-gf Dawn was from Kilgore, and took me to Decisions and I know how important that bar was for the queers of East Texas!! I had some fun nights there, and really treasure the memories your post brought back! :) I think I even have my old membership card somewhere... can't believe that was 30 years ago!