BUCKHANNON, West Virginia – West Virginia Wesleyan College Associate Professor of Gender Studies  Dr. Jessica Scott ‘04 has published a new book, “Home Is Where Your Politics Are: Queer Activism In The U.S. South and South Africa.” 

A book launch will be held at Argo Books on Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. in collaboration with West Virginia Wesleyan College Faculty lecture series. The event will begin with a discussion between Dr. Jessica Scott and Faculty Lecture Series coordinator Dr. Tamara Denmark Bailey. Scott will be reading selections from “Home Is Where Your Politics Are” and taking questions from the audience. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available at the closing of the event.

“Home Is Where Your Politics Are” examines “the spatial politics of sexuality” through the experiences of advocates working to guarantee the dignity of queer and transgender people in their own context. Dr. Scott explains in their interview that many believe the narrative it is easier to live in a city such as New York or San Francisco rather than in states like West Virginia or Alabama. 

Scott states, “There is a similar narrative on the African continent- the suggestion there is that it is better to go to South Africa than to stay in Kenya or Nigeria as a queer or transgender person. The reality of hate crimes and xenophobia in American and South African cities is not taken into account in these narratives.” 

Scott earned their Ph.D. at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Cape Town is where their research began when Scott asked the question, “What is the effect of some places being characterized as hostile to queer and transgender lives?” Scott found the answers to these questions in interviews with organizers who were fighting for the rights and dignity of queer and transgender people in the U.S. South and South Africa. 

During  Scott’s time at West Virginia Wesleyan College, their teaching has been both informed by and informative for their work. Scott states that when the narrative of rural places being awful for queer and transgender individuals to live in is confronted in the classroom, reactions vary. From this, they conclude that while rural areas can feel isolating and politically challenging for queer and transgender people, cities are not panaceas for homophobia or transphobia. The more this narrative is embedded in our society, the fewer resources are available in these areas to fight homophobia and transphobia. 

Scott states, “I want readers to take away both the commitment to the dignity of queer and transgender lives that organizers embrace every day and the sense that this work is extremely underfunded. I also want readers to be able to recognize the complex ways that race, gender, and class intersect with queerness and gender identity in every context and to think about who and how they are in relation to those intersections. The organizers who show up in the book have done that difficult work and are excellent examples to emulate in thinking through our own places in the world. I, too, have tried to think through those questions about myself in order to provide a model that readers might follow in reflecting on their own place in the world – globally and locally.

“Most of all, though, I want readers to take away from the book a tenderness toward the spaces that I write about and a love and admiration for the people who live there that has nothing to do with pity.”

Scott has recently completed a year-long series of interviews with unhoused, newly housed, and housing-insecure individuals living in Clarksburg, West Virginia WV through her work as a co-director for the Center for Restorative Justice. In the future, they plan to write a book about vulnerabilities in the lives of people experiencing housing insecurity.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC) is a private, four-year residential liberal arts and sciences college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. A tradition of excellence for more than 130 years, West Virginia Wesleyan is home to 14 Fulbright Scholars. The Princeton Review ranked Wesleyan as one of its 2023 Best Colleges in the Southeastern Region of the United States. U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 Best College Rankings designated Wesleyan seventh in Best Value – Regional Universities (South). WVWC offers students nearly 60 majors and 40 minors; graduate programs in athletic training, business administration, creative writing, nursing and clinical mental health counseling; 21 NCAA Division II athletic programs; multiple performing arts groups; and more than 50 organizations. Founded in 1890, the College is closely affiliated with the United Methodist Church and abides by the Wesley doctrine that emphasizes service to others. For more information, visit wvwc.edu.