These Lesbian Farmers Aren’t Here To Take Over America. They Want To Grow It.

Rush Limbaugh seems to thinks queer farmers are a threat to rural America. He’s wrong.

Apparently, it’s news to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh that lesbian-identified farmers exist. And he believes they are a threat to rural America.

On an episode of his show last month, Limbaugh alarmingly quoted from a story from the conservative website The Washington Free Beacon, which trumpeted “Feds Holding Summits for Lesbian Farmers.” The headline referenced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s partnership with the National Center for Lesbian Rights on a LGBT-focused #RuralPride initiative and LGBT Rural Summit held in Des Moines.

“What they’re trying to do is convince lesbians to become farmers,” Limbaugh warned. “Okay, go ahead and laugh at it, but I’m telling you what they’re doing. They are trying to bust up one of the last geographically conservative regions in the country; that’s rural America.”

“I never knew that lesbians wanted to get behind the horse and the plow and start burrowing,” his rant continued. “I never knew it. But apparently enough money can make it happen, and the objective here is to attack rural states.”

Of course, queer people are not confined to living in cities and many, including a number of lesbians, are already farming. Some have been at it for years.

So why does Limbaugh’s ‘warning’ matter? Because the average age of U.S. farmers continues to rise and many of those famers lack family members who will take over their businesses when they retire. The nation’s farmland, then, needs someone to take up the reins. So, why not queers?

In an effort to celebrate and recognize the lesbian farmers of America, HuffPost Queer Voices reached out to a number of them. These are their stories.

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