Throughout history, rural spaces have held multiple meanings and served various functions for LGBT individuals and communities, ranging from sites for political organizing or sanctuary to sites of repression and violence for LGBT individuals. In popular depictions, rurality is often portrayed as an inherently incompatible, or even hostile, environment for individuals who are not heterosexual and/or cisgender. While this may be an accurate contrast between some urban and rural settings, there is significant variation within each categorization based on population density.