[Koharuchan]

My hometown was very intolerant. I grew up in a city, and particularly at my middle school they were fond of calling me gay, even though I am straight. Girls would steer clear in the locker room, saying "Stay away from her, she's a faggot!" And people would sometimes beat me up and call me an ugly gay whore, which again made no sense because I couldn't be a whore because nobody liked me so I had no intimate relationships. There wasn't a single gay person in the school, or so you'd think. I'm willing to bet anything that there were plenty of gays there who were in the closet because nobody there accepted it. I moved out to the country, way down south with corn and cotton fields, pastures, cows and horses, a few confederate flags (Not out of racism, I assure you) and lots of forest. It's usually a big stereotype that southern people hate gays, but it really isn't true. The people out here are very accepting and understanding, and I like it a lot here. I do have one friend that is against homosexuality (she's super devout Christian) and I've had some really savage fights with her over gay rights before, but we still get along well enough. I personally am a gay rights activist, so I don't tolerate people making fun of gays or saying it's wrong. So in my hometown, yes, severe homophobia. Out here, it's very nice and people accept each other.