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Rogie · October 4, 2012

That's the title of an interesting article in the New York Times (courtesy of khun Koko: as I was reading the NYT link in connection with the ebony and adobe quiz I spotted it).

REALITY television often acquaints us with people we never knew existed. During last week’s season finale of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” TLC’s smash hit about the small-town Georgia family of Alana Thompson, a 7-year-old pageant contestant, viewers were introduced to Alana’s Uncle Lee — affectionately known as “Uncle Poodle.” In Alana’s world, a “poodle” is a gay man, and his appearance on the show has opened people’s eyes to something many have never considered: that you can be openly gay and accepted in the rural South.

Many people assume that because the South is the nation’s most evangelical and politically conservative region, it is probably also a hotbed for hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But while such crimes do occur, they are less common than in large urban centers, where the absence of a tight community and the abundance of strangers make it easier to target people for their differences.

Most Southerners who aren’t comfortable with homosexuality don’t use terms like “gay” or “lesbian.” They’ll use euphemisms. A gay man is a “little light in the loafers” or has “sugar in his britches.” If a lesbian has a partner, the partner is often referred to as her “friend.” But a “little light in the loaferseveryone knows exactly what it means.

And there is a limit to the acceptance. In the rural South, people love their sons and daughters and they may even break bread with the florist and his partner, but they still believe homosexuality is a sin. They draw the line at a gay pride march down Main Street, and they won’t stand for gay marriage.

Still, as Alana’s Uncle Lee has shown America, there are gays living in the rural South who don’t all set out for the big city. They lead rich lives and have families, and sometimes even communities, that love them and accept them for who they are.