Rumspringa has sprung

For whatever reason, several of us at work are vaguely fascinated with the Amish rite of passage called Rumspringa. It seems to come up in conversation almost once a month — especially between Matt and myself (usually referencing the documentary Devil’s Playground, which I still haven’t seen and which is probablty not exactly a representative depiction) — so when Brandon saw this over the weekend he obviously had to pass it along:

Amish woman looking for true love. - 22

Hi! I am a girl from a small town in Iowa, where I was raised Amish. I am currently on rumspringa, which is the time in every young person’s life where he or she goes out into the English world to experience everything that is out there. The hope is that at the end of rumspringa, we will return to our communities and join the Amish church, but I’m still not sure if I’m ready for that! I really like living in a world with cars and electricity and computers!

I’m 22 years old and I like to go hiking and I love animals. I like listening to music because that’s something else I could never do before, so it’s very exciting! I’m looking for a guy who is honest and kind and good looking of course! I have blonde hair and I guess I’m cute and stuff, and I wear English clothes rather than Amish and I don’t wear a bonnet or anything, I mean, I do sometimes but probably wouldn’t if we went out!

This is just fascinating to me on so many levels…

At a very base and juvenile level, I think I just like how “rumspringa” (and the occasional wilding that goes along with it) reminds me of “Rump Shaker”.

38 Responses to “Rumspringa has sprung”


  1. 1 da kine

    I feel dirty as hell for wanting to know how that date would turn out. Hmmm… she almost certainly has that natural “girl next door” appeal, no communicable diseases, and few, if any, members to compare to yours for size. I’ve already said too much.

  2. 2 Jake

    It might depend on how long she’s been among the “English”…

    But yes, you’ve said too much. ;)

  3. 3 andrew

    Im really intrigued by the amish way of life. Im eighteen years old and i live in missouri. I would like to talk to you
    andrew

  4. 4 Jake

    Why don’t you talk to an Amish person, then?

  5. 5 boo

    You guys don’t get out much do you? I’ve grown up around the amish my whole life and never really learned until about 6 years ago. It would blow your mind let me tell you.

  6. 6 mrsshoetick

    She may not have communicable diseases, but she’s more likely to give you a child with six fingers.

  7. 7 Jake

    All the better for knuckle rocker options!

  8. 8 Broz

    Here goes:

    CHURN BUTR
    MILKN COWS
    LORDZ WORK
    ANTI PHONE
    ANTI CHEVY
    BUGGY PMPN
    BEARD POWR

    And for the Amish into The Red Hot Chili Peppers (probably just the kids on Rumspringa):

    MTHRS MILK

  9. 9 David

    Anyone know anything about homosexuality among the Amish? Any Amish boys/young men ever inquire or explore homosexual feelings? Would be very curious or even interested in talking with anyone (particularly someone Amish) about that.

  10. 10 Jake

    Can’t say I know anything about that, David. Good luck with it, though. ;)

  11. 11 elam zook

    Just saw someone’s question about homosexuality among the Amish. I was raised Amish and am Gay. I left the Amish 30 years ago because of this. Lots of people including some Amish believe there aren’t any homosexual Amish, but that is because Gay Amish either leave or keep it hidden and live miserable lives. I know of an Amish man that I had relations with and he hung himself in the barn rather than deal with it. I left home shortly after that and unfortunately, I have never told any of my family I am Gay. There is no way I could ever see them again…

  12. 12 eph

    do you guys know anything more about being gay and amish? i googled it and found almost nothing. there must be a credible number of gays among the amish, even if they’re pretty invisible. i can’t even find much that is written on the topic…jeez, it must be at the very BACK of the closet, compared to other groups…
    perhaps, too, in more recent times things may have changed a bit and people might ‘go into town more’…as with factory jobs…

  13. 13 I Know

    Homosexuals, male and female, occur naturally in the Amish population. They are at lower levels than some other populations.
    They are being detected by “gaydar” by gay Zionist activists and are told that the world hates gays. Some are actively participating in harassment of those whom the activists tell them do not like gays.
    This is the end stage in the homosexual Zionist takeover of the entire culture.

  14. 14 andy hershberger

    if anyone is gay/male amish from the holmes county ohio area i would really like to talk with them. please let me know…..

  15. 15 Mark Anthony

    I am very curious about what would happen if a young gay man came out to his family. What would be the result of this action?

  16. 16 andy hershberger

    depending on the order of amish, and how close the boy is with his family, they would most likely shunn him from the community. that’s why we’re all scared to death to tell anyone

  17. 17 Jude Smith

    I too am really interested in this as well. I read recently a book that was written on the tragedy in Pennsylvania and how the Amish transcended that with forgiveness. Having been raised around Amish and Mennonites I was familiar with shunning. However, when I was reading the book and it talked about shunning within the community it made me wonder about gay amish guys/girls and how they either continue to live in the community or how they make it once they decide to leave? I also wonder if they have to wait until Rumspringa in order to leave b/c they are gay or do they just run away? I too have Googled it and have not found much. Anyway, just curious.

  18. 18 andy hershberger

    well the amish are at such a slower pace than we are…. they get to experience during rumschpringa, so i think they make a decision after that… it just depends on the kind of order of amish… new order, old order, swartzentruber, beachy amish… etc. everyone is different…. so every individual gay amish would deal with it differently i would think.

  19. 19 Walker Godfrey

    I have been around many of the community for most of my life. I have been to animal auctions in Ohio where I have been flirted with y Amish men before. I have also had a local guy flirt at another auction house. The Amish and menanite community keep these things under hat, but it does happen in all cultures. I had a struggle w/ family to find the truth and now they are better than ever. I wish that all cultures could embrace people for their true self identities. I even saw several Amish Little People recently in Ohio.This took me by surprise, but people are just people>>>>
    7

  20. 20 Stallion D

    I believe I was cruised by an Amish man today (I’m a male)and was titillated and surprised. Bisexual attraction certainly isn’t anything bizarre, it’s cultures and belief systems which make it so. I hope that Amish bi dudes get it on with each other once in a while, in secret.

  21. 21 Freddy

    I’m a regular Latin gay guy and I think having sex with an Amish guy would be hot! It’s one of my sexual fantasies. I hope one day I could live out that fantasy.

  22. 22 andy hershberger

    well i am amish….. close to holmes co. ohio

  23. 23 Rbm8702

    I too am just a regular English gay guy. It has also always been a fantasy of mine to be with an Amish guy. I just think it would be a “pure” experience not filled with all the drama of the English lifestyles. And it would be way hot time with the beard and stuff. I live in florida and we have a couple Amish communitys here. There was one gay Amish guy I knew but he went back to the church before we could hook-up. “frown” he was hot!

  24. 24 andy hershberger

    well if they have a beard they’re married so good luck with that one…… usually they just do it in rumschpringa. and amish gay guys dont like the flamming eyebrow waxed gay guys….. most like strong, country guys….

  25. 25 Zook

    Well Mr. Hershberger:

    If you ever want to go out on a date let me know. rocket329us [at] yahoo [dot] com I’d love to show you around.

    (Note: Slightly obfuscated the email addy. - Jake)

  26. 26 andy hershberger

    i tried e-mailing you. hopefully it went through

  27. 27 andy

    ? is that the same zook as the elam zook from up above

  28. 28 Jake

    Hard to say, but he’s using different email addresses.

  29. 29 andy

    are you amish jake?

  30. 30 Jake

    Nope. It’s just my site. If you read the original post, it’s pretty obvious that this thread has really taken a turn. ;)

  31. 31 andy

    i know! it is insane. I really wish that more amish could use the internet. I am stuck out here in the country… with nothing to do. i mean i love the country, but it’s horrible at the same time. so how is jake? where r u from? lol

  32. 32 Jake

    Oh, Jake’s just fine.
    The about page should fill you in on me.

  33. 33 andy

    there has to be gay amish that find this site…… right??? :/

  34. 34 Walker Godfrey

    Hello again. just wanted to check out the number of people on here that know more than the rest. I wish that I had offered to help the one guy that I met in Ohio. He was beaten up just before I wnet to Mt. Hope a few years ago. He held the door for another guy and myself and stared at us the whole time we were there. I hope he is alright and found a way to be ok. Being from Central New York you can be about anybody you want. Still country but near the city. I have thought of opening my home to someone in need of a place to rest and find themselves. I understand the culture but not that in the menonite community they allow gay people to be part of the church. I guess it is hard for most people kept in small societies and never educated on biology or world history to live in the absense of these things. Just like America was founded on seperation of church and state, but has many religious zellous people running things… funny…

  35. 35 Jake

    I hope none of you were involved with this story. Yikes! ;)

  36. 36 Walker Godfrey

    Jake,
    Do you think it would be possible to create a secret code for gay Amish persons to use to communicate and to find help. Maybe something as wearing the hat tilted a certain way or the women could wear the ties on the bonnet longer on one side..ie…
    I think that if there was an underground railroad of sorts it would be great to help those that can not be free of the persicution. If you knew me, you would understand my caring for all persons, but find those that are pushed away the most needey. Suicide is the highest amungst gay teens and the barn hanging thin shows it in the Amish community. and your comment about being involved, well it could be seen in many ways…I know that your culture has been around for many a generation. as I am Dutch and French as well as Native American, I have background in many cultures and friends from all cultures. I am eclectic and have learned to understand all persons as a whole, but still long for all to be understood by the majority. This meaning that all people can be whom ever they are. Don’t forget that 10% of the population is intersexual w/ both sexes, or that we are all female the first 7 weeks of pregnancy, or that thousands of dna studies have proved we all derrived from Africa…. Yes thousands on the midochondrail dna of the mothers of all races have shown we came from 2 tribes in eastren Africa… Or that they found Neanderthal genes in humans and that there are thousands of skelletal remains of primative humans… Or the fact that we have bothe male and female hormones in men, but women only female…Funny if you think about things deeper than your day to day or in the terms of thousands or even hundreds of years…. right….Man shall not lay w/ Man meant 2 humans were not to procreate educated children???
    well challange your mind and find the truth somewhere out or in there…

  37. 37 Jake

    Erm… Don’t think there’s much I can do to help there. ;)

  38. 38 Anton

    I didn’t know anything about Amish people, but now I think that they are nice, even though they suffer a lot because of the institutionalized homophobia of their cult(I am talking about the gay boys). I live close to Cleveland, in Painesville. Is it any Amish gay place (gay bar or something) where I can meet Amish boys?

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