Washington legalizes same-sex marriage next month at a time when the geography of the Northwest’s gay and lesbian population is changing. Their numbers are still largest in metropolitan areas. But if you look for the biggest increases – that trend is happening in small towns and rural areas. In Idaho more gay and lesbian couples are making a choice that was once unthinkable in rural areas -- they’re living openly. Joe Palisano and Tom Bry have a farm just south of Sandpoint, Idaho. Joe Palisano is used to a certain kind of reaction when he tells people where he lives. “'You live where?! Idaho?! Way up there? How do you do that!?'” Joe and his partner Tom Bry live just south of Sandpoint, Idaho to be precise -– population 7,000. He says people expect them to live in a city. They are equally surprised to hear that he is a farmer/Jessica Robinson, Northwest Public Radio. More here.

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