About

Eleanor Skelton is a journalist and educator.

They were homeschooled kindergarten through senior year of high school within the high-demand subculture of fundamentalist Christianity during the 90s and 00s in Texas and Colorado before completing their bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Chemistry at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. They are currently enrolled in a master’s degree program for journalism at the University of Alabama.

In 2015, Eleanor launched The UnBoxing Project, the online community for the network they and their friends started to support stay-at-home daughters escaping from abusive fundamentalist Christian households.

You might have read one of the articles Eleanor wrote for the Huffington Post, like their piece about coming out after the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Read the other articles they’ve written on MuckRack.

Eleanor writes about their experiences in leaving a cult to advocate for other survivors. They have spoken out in interviews published in The Texas Observer, The Establishment, Marie Claire, and Lamar University Press.

In 2023, Eleanor’s story was featured in the book Disobedient Women: How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning by Sarah Stankorb.

They were a blog contributor and editor with Homeschoolers Anonymous from 2014 to 2016, helping survivors of abusive homeschooling from insular fundamentalist Christian communities to tell their stories.

Eleanor volunteers with The Vashti Initiative, a non-profit that offers support and services to survivors of spiritual or religious-based trauma. They also served on the steering committee for Just As I Am Golden Triangle in 2024, an LGBTQIA affirming community for queer people and allies who have experienced religious trauma.

They can be reached by emailing eleanor.k.skelton AT gmail.com.

Media Interviews:

• A House Divided by Patrick Michels, Texas Observer – April 20, 2015

• Meet HSLDA, The Most Powerful Religious-Right Lobby You’ve Never Heard Of by Samantha Field, The Establishment – March 8, 2018
• The Daughters’ Great Escape by Sarah Stankorp, Marie Claire – June 15, 2018
• Abuse of Faith by Olivia Malick, Lamar University Press – Dec. 8, 2020
• ‘We would die with those students’ | Southeast Texas teachers react to deadly Uvalde school mass shooting by Kierra Sam and Gloria Walker, 12NewsNow – May 27, 2022

Other Mentions in the News:

• Former The Examiner staff writer alleges she is owed unpaid overtime, Southeast Texas Record – May 11, 2018
• 16 Texas high school teachers selected as UNT Scripps Howard Fund Emerging Journalists Program Teaching Ambassadors for 2024, TAJE – July 11, 2024

Podcast Appearances:

• Responsible Faith: Leaving the IFB Church: Eleanor’s Story – Aug. 4, 2022
• Speaking Up with Andrew Pledger: Control Freaks with Eleanor Skelton – S1E10 – July 4, 2022
• Kitchen Table Cult: S5E3: Club Q with Eleanor and Rian – Dec. 16, 2022
• Cultimatum: Breaking Free: Eleanor Skelton’s Journey from Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) to Liberation – Aug. 11, 2024
• We Are One: The Strongest Hold: Breaking Free from a Lifetime of Control – Nov. 19, 2024
• The Misfit Amish: Discussion about Mandated Shunning – Sept. 13, 2025
• Beyond BJU Exposing Fundamentalism: Speaking Out: Protesting Jim Berg with Eleanor Skelton – Sept. 16, 2025

Most popular blog series:

#WhyILeft Fundamentalism
The Unboxing Project
Emotional Hypothermia