A year ago, Venus Octavian, then 17, was homeless and spending nights next to a dumpster behind a Taco Bell in eastern Kentucky.
Octavian, who prefers they/them pronouns, has spent the better part of life between Kentucky and Tennessee, navigating the Appalachian region of the United States, an area often understood to be a difficult place for LGBTQ people to live.
After coming out as nonbinary to their mother, Octavian had to leave home and spend most days until high school graduation seeking