The South is So Gay
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- When you think about LGBTQ representation, you probably don't immediately picture the southern states of America. In this episode, @TraeCrowderLiberalRedneck examines the contradictions and challenges of being gay in the South.
Original Air Date: 6/1/2020
The American South is a complicated place, and we know a lot less about it than we think we do. And many things about the South that seem to make no sense are less confounding in context. The reality is the history of many Southern things has been manipulated, hidden, or just plain ignored. Trae Crowder guides us through the pride points, failures, and contradictions in "Southin' Off."
-
ATTN: is a media company that breaks down important societal topics and conversations into digestible, entertaining videos and series across all platforms. Check out more videos worth your ATTN: and subscribe to our channels below:
Facebook: / attn
Instagram: / attndotcom
Twitter: / attn
Snapchat: / attndotcom
I'm a straight old Boomer who never thought about it that way, but I guess that "nice" thing really IS a thing. Back in the early '70s in southwest Georgia, we had an art teacher at my school who everyone knew was gay. He was one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. Everyone liked him. As for his gayness, no one ever talked about it much. It was sort of a don't ask, don't tell thing. And it would have been considered the height of rudeness for anyone to say anything about it to, or in front of, him. No one ever did as far as I know. He was so well liked that on the rare occasion anyone dared make a joke about it behind his back, they were immediately shut down and told NEVER to do that again, even by the kids. When we did talk about it, it was in sympathetic and respectful tones. Sort of like a "Well, he was just born that way" kind of thing. Like there was something wrong with him that wasn't his fault. Of course, I'm ashamed of that attitude now. Yes, he was a nice guy just because he was him. But he also HAD to be. He could never just relax and be himself. That was our fault. There was nothing wrong with him. It was the rest of us. Our culturally induced ignorance and prejudice. I wish I could tell him that, but he's long gone. If he were alive today, I'd throw a pride parade for him.
The same for our church choir director
I smiled in sad when I read "like there was something wrong with him that wasn't his fault." I remember that sentiment. I'd like to say I never felt that way, but I really don't remember. I know I accepted that as a normal thing to feel (normal as in "what people do," not as in "what people should do.") My best friend in my teen years was a closeted boy/man, and we never discussed The Thing That Isn't Discussed, and I sincerely hope I never said anything egregiously ignorant.... But I probably did. 😞💙
What a beautiful comment 🥹❤️
I love this comment.
Wow! I can't tell you how nice it is to hear a straight southern dude express that attitude. I spent the majority of my 54 years afraid of straight men, avoiding interactions, worrying I'd make them uncomfortable if I said anything that might make them uncertain of my orientation. I always knew there were guys with your attitude but it felt mostly theoretical. 👍
My uncle was a "bachelor", and we were to call him that. Period. Out in the country we aren't gay. We're just single with friends.
Yeah but don’t you also just eventually find that one friend you end up living with at 25 or 32 or whatever age you’re supposed to settle down? Maybe adopt a kid, or if you’re like me, maybe raise your own kids?
Two “bachelors” living together since they were in college and are still living together 15 years later aren’t really bachelors. They’re married. Period.
There is nothing wrong with that. It's a problem when everyone keeps in the closet pedophilia. Sexual orientation is a bigger issue in this country than raping children. They are not the same and Children's lives are destroyed by rape.
Even if they don't have intimate physical contacts, they're still in a soulmate situation.
😁
in the UK we have a saying about the people in the countryside"where the men are men and the sheep are nervous"
"We're so butch in the South, the only therapy we'll go to is conversion therapy" 😂
Brilliant!
…and that’s just our women 😂
As a trans girl in rural Alabama can confirm there is alot of us down here.
But can you live your life out in the open? I live in California and have dozens of gay, trans, and alternative life style friends and I am as straight as an arrow. They are co-workers, neighbors, and fellow students.
@@matthewhuszarik4173Yes lol. I was never in a “closet” and I’m in my 30’s. My parents were not immediately accepting but that was back then. It’s fine here
@@matthewhuszarik4173my best friend is a straight guy I’ve known half my life. I live in Houston without issues, was out all through high school. Legit no one cares.
And its sad how fucked up how much discrimination there is against everyone that isnt a straight white male here. I live near Bessemer Alabama and the few gay friends that i know that have came out as gay all moved away from here. I don't blame them AT ALL!!
@kaymillerfromTX wth are you talking about? Its not "my town"..its the south in general. Thats why so many red states are passing these draconian laws ripping away the rights of lgbtq ppl. Now its not ALL of the ppl in the south. Southern folks are some of the most caring ppl you'll meet. But alot of them will cherry pick there "book" for things to hate people for unfortunately. But my comment was responding to someone from a totally different part of Alabama that was talking about their personal experience.
And btw i am a SWM..So i know this from experience too. Im not blaming them..im saying that for as long as the south has existed SWM were in charge. Nobody could own land or vote or anything. Its alot better today but if your black or Mexican or gay or any other minority there is a slur for you and a group of ppl that will dislike you for no other reason than those things. Its not all of us..its not even the majority probably..but there is a large group.
I've lived in Georgia for the past 15 years and can tell you there are more homosexuals in the South than anywhere I've ever been. So many are "down low" or closeted because they got married at a young age as they were expected to. Religious sexual repression keeps these people feeling ashamed. I live as I am, and rarely, if ever, come across people with an attitude about me being gay. But Georgia is controlled by all the outlying little cities where conservatives hide and stay sheltered in their bigotry. These places produce the MTGs of the world and keep our legislature at a standstill and sometimes backwards.
Luckily my grandparents are pretty open but I still get the odd "sinners prayer" or discussion about the rainbow being used to represent gay people.
also gerrymandering
@@jeremyfisher8512I just tell’em I’ve got Satan, Lucifer, and the Devil on speed dial, you really want one of them turning up at our next BBBQ? ‘Coz I know you’re not gonna get Jesus on the phone, so let’s just leave them all be and we can flip some burgers and try not to turn these sausages to coal, K? These are the things we have control over right here and right now.
They know I’m joking.
The Devil hasn’t paid a phone bill since 1647, so that guy got his services cut off before they invented the dial tone. So he’s not really in my contacts. 😇
@@jeremyfisher8512oh, and 🏳️🌈?
What’s to discuss? It’s a flag.
So are these: 🇵🇹🇨🇷
@@Lucas-gm3bv if you know you know
I remember when Fried Green Tomatoes came out I was pretty skeptical that a lesbian couple in depression era Alabama would be so accepted. My mother in law, an east Texas girl, said it wasn’t uncommon at all. She talked about the idea of spinster women and confirmed bachelors.
I’ve had no issues in Texas my entire life. Yes, there was bullying in middle school as there is for most any kid, but no one cared in high school. People assume we’re “hiding” when we just don’t all act like a stereotype lol
@@jaya.d-gauthier1644 and then tell us we "shove it down their throats" when we happen to look the part 😭❤️
The people at the Whistlestop were more like one big family. They wouldn't care.
One of the best movies ever made!!
Yup.
2010, my partner of 25 years and I traveled to Iowa to get legally married. He passed away in 2013, here in Florida, where we lived. However, our marriage was not recognized here, and I had to have the permission of his estranged sister to have him cremated, as she, not me, was considered "next of kin".
God Bless 🫴🏼💙
That makes me so mad. These are basic human rights and freedoms that should never be challenged, especially in a place that refers to itself as ‘home of the free’ and all the other free BS Americans like to ironically claim as their own.
Well it's legal now.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Florida#:~:text=Same%2Dsex%20marriage%20has%20been,unconstitutional%20on%20August%2021%2C%202014.
I’m not familiar with Florida laws, but couldn’t someone get “power of attorney” or something like that?
I hope she didn’t fight you on that.😢❤
As a Queer Southerner who lived around the world, I can't tell you how many times my Southern friends and I - upon meeting a new dude with a theeeeeeeck Southern accent at work or elsewhere - would play the old game "Gay or Southern?" And I once went to a "men's" lunch in the deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep South, where the men at the table had old Southern gender-blender names like Madison, Robin, Courtney, Leslie, Vivien, Francis, Jordan, and Shannon. The members of the Rainbow Mafia at the table were also deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep in the closet, living within the Bible Belt and far behind the Magnolia Curtain. Every other sentence they either made a self-abusing homophobic joke (to test the waters) or they did what we call Southern Queer folk call "Dropping a Pearl" - where you leave an audible breadcrumb for other "family members" to pick up, e.g., in the middle of a discussion about LSU v. Alabama, one of your male friends makes an aside about the fantastic costumes at the halftime show. This video was spot on! Thank you. And to all the haters (who are our motivators): BLESS YOUR HEARTS!!!!!!
"Magnolia Curtain." LOL. That's a new one.
Yes, one does wonder about Miss Lindsey Graham
I despise "Bless yore hort." It is how Little Miss Perfect says FU.
@@rachelgarber1423Ma and I did some mathematical thanking last year. When she was 5 every black person she met older than 60 had been a slave. Lindsay Graham is in her demographic and also knew slaves.
@@petehoover6616 Never thought of that but it makes sense
The South has always been the rather odd ball, peculiar region of the nation, probably because that describes a certain percentage of the population. I am elderly and remember many Gay men and women through the decades who were both well liked and accepted. Their preferences and lives were never openly discussed, but it was, of course, common knowledge. As Mama said, “Be nice and the world will usually be nice to you.”
The ideal that gay people can be charming is funny because it is so true. You learn quickly to navigate around a large part of the population that doesn't like you and do it through making them feel less uncomfortable. Never thought of it as a superpower but I'll take it.
Is being funny really a “gay ideal”? Seems like quite a stretch. Personally, I feel like being comedic and funny should be an ideal for all, but it’s definitely nothing to do with gayness or straightness.
Reminds me of that old Lenny Bruce bit about going to ‘see the Jew be charming.’ Ain’t shit changed much in my 77 years breathin’. Still the same old testosterone charged hairless chimps hootin’ thru the jungle.
@@ryanmalone2681 I think you're missing the point. It's not exclusive to gay people, but they often do it to Disarm peoples fears.
@@ryanmalone2681 A lot harder to punch a person who can make you laugh which is important cause theres plenty of folks who want to punch us
Unless you are rich, then you can get away with being an asshole. True story.
I'm gay in Alabama and I used to have a green 4x4 Ranger with flesh tone truck nuts. They got many laughs...mostly from ME! Ha ha 😂
You ever get behind your truck and get teabagged by your truck nuts?
@@TheIntJuggler I was real gentle with him when I put them on.
I love you Trae! As a SoCal gal from NY(and recently relocated to Houston[shh..don’t tell anybody]), I love hearing that being liberal and progressive is not just coastal thing. Keep it up. Buddha knows we need to laugh nowadays!
I'm a male bisexual texan. A lot more guys like me than you would think.
I’m a straight Aussie, I have no idea why this video came up on my feed.
I’m glad to have watched it.
I learnt a bit.
it’s brainwashing be careful
@@littleboyape6681You're brainwashed be careful
Australia is the South of Britain.
Having spent most of my life in north Texas around Dallas, I only decided to be myself in my 40s and not live in fear, hiding from people - thinking it was for my own safety as I suffered alot of violence in my youth and at college when I had the snot beat out of me for being a sissy - not from strangers but mostly from relatives or shamed by church people or others in authority. I realized way too late that there were so many people like me and now I just don't give a crap and I haven't had any personal issues later in life thank goodness. At almost 60, I'm building a house in a fairly rural area in north Texas and asked the builder salesman about the area, as I'm a gay man buying along with my sister (often being confused as my wife, lol) - and the builder responded "how many times I get asked that question every day" ha ha. He said I should meet my neighbors and there will be several families who asked the same thing. I imagine there are alot of us here - but growing up, I felt like I was the only one - and in hindsight with Facebook and other social media, finding old football players I went to high school with married to their husbands here and there - or just other ordinary, normal people like me living their lives, amid the crushing politics that still tries and repress us from living normal lives. When I was denied housing in the 80s in Dallas, it was scary and confusing and being told that they don't have to tell me the reason - just did not "approve me" - to now building my second house in my lifetime and it seems like no one cares at least where I had been looking. I hear it's still not illegal in Texas to discriminate in this way - and if that's the case, I hope that will change. In today's world, with the internet and social media etc. it seems like the youth will at least know that they are not alone and that there are resources to turn to for help (like the Trevor Project) when things get horrible. I worked for the Trevor Project for 4 years as a volunteer and realize that even today kids have horrible experiences in all parts of our country and around the world - coming mostly from parents or someone who can kick them out or even from teachers, church people etc. This short video is like a breath of fresh air, along with all the positive comments I've read here. It's great reading comments from all my LGBTQ+ folks - regardless of your experiences in life - just knowing that all along I was never alone.
Dallas in the 80's myself. At the time Ross Perot wanted to surround Cedar Springs, where I lived, with a chain link fence. With all the dying it was like living in a Hieronimus Bosch painting.
I worked for Chilton, the credit reporting company. It is immediately clear to me that your housing was denied because of your salary and credit information, not your orientation. Apartment managers were strict about keeping rent to within a certain percentage of demonstrated income. Or as the gay paper used to say, "Get a job, and interior decorating doesn't count." My present best friend is a lady who went to two years of design college in NYC and it is a struggle to deal with someone going through two years of design school and had never heard that? Unaccredited school. Classes didn't count for anything. Like a modern degree from a Florida University.
Oklahoma City in the 90's was much worse. They had mass murderers. I became too frightened to speak except on the phone.
Starting with Anita Bryant and the assassination of Harvey Milk there has been a slowly ramping up of anti gay pressure that amounts to a pogrom.
When in 1998 people in Jackson, MS started coming to my door, calling my name and telling me I would have to stop going to gay bars and synagogues and instead start going to their Baptist church it became just too dangerous for me in the entire South. It is a pogrom.
Being beaten routinely by family members is something I can confirm. I also know many of the beatings ended in frottage. They are called sexualized violence. The family members had assigned you the gay role and had beaten you into it. Without the beatings you might be happy with a fat wife by now but we'll never know.
They don't want you to inherit. They want your share. That's all it is. Their excuse.
Howdy, neighbor!
In case anyone else needs this definition…
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire.
I’m trans and grew up in Alabama….. I am convinced the only reason I have style is all that time I spent looking at clothes in the dingy closet I lived in lol growing up religious with homophobic and transphobic family and a preacher who told me being gay or trans was worse than being a murderer or a child abuser really fucked me up. I’m never going back but I hope things start getting better soon I feel for everyone still living in the hell scape that is the south. It’s sad because there are so many wonderful things about the south but it’s overshadowed by the racism and homophobia
Fuck that’s harsh. Glad you got out. I hope you can move through it all and live a ‘normal’ life. Best wishes.
@@zappasmoustache23 the closet thing was a metaphor I hope that was clear but yeah wasn’t easy. Thanks I’m glad too
Wow the closet thing was so unnecessary and not even funny I don’t need to comment after midnight
Sending you love and warm hugs!!!
@MearaKat96 I can only imagine how immensely painful it was growing up in Alabama, as a trans woman! Having family, like yours (and mine also, although when I was growing up in the 70s & 80s, in the Midwest, I don't think they knew about trans people) sounds like it made it hard to be fully who you are! But that preacher honestly sounds to me like they have no business telling anyone, anything if that's what they told you when you were young and impressionable! (That type of religious person really makes me angry and I apologize if I offended anyone's religion but I can't stand the use of religion as a cudgel to beat someone, usually when they're already down especially in this case when the verse they use in the bible is a mistranslation. The man that did the official translation for (I believe the King James version but I'd have to check to be certain) admitted after the fact that the words in the verse were not referring to homosexuals but to pedophiles. The problem was by the time he figured it out a year or more after the fact, the churches all liked that they had a way to justify punishing gay men so they told him to forget it and tried to bury the fact that it was ever mistranslated! Sorry to ramble on and on. 🤪😂
What I started this comment to say, besides the rant about the preacher, is that I have a good friend that's a trans man and lives in Alabama now. He grew up in Texas and both southern states have made it very hard for him to be who he is and was throughout his life.
I'm glad you're out of the south and I hope you stay safe. We lose too many of our Trans Sisters and Brothers in these darker times. (Not that we haven't always lost too many of our Trans Sisters, especially those of color but it's getting higher and it was already a crisis!)😢
Sending love, light and big healing hugs to all my Queer Family out there and our amazing Allies, k 💗🕯️🫂🤟🏻🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
The only flaming bag we'd leave on her porch would be a pink Pucci .
We're classy like that.
...she *does* need a gay co-worker to clue her in about her hair tho...
All my coworkers have a “gay friend” but I sure wouldn’t want them to think of me as such. 🤦🏿♂️ I’ve only ever been publicly called slurs in midtown Manhattan in my life which I had to laugh off because I was half shocked. It’s not bad here.
Not bad there … Right. BS
@@obsoleteelite8258 Okay? Believe what you want? Weird how other people saying they’re happy with their lives makes you feel a way, it’s quite telling.
As a trucker I can confirm this to an extent, sure the south has its mouth breathers that need a little chlorine in their gene-pool if you know what I mean. But I've seen more in your face racism in the bigger city's up north (save for Memphis, but that's a whole other mess). I think it has to do with the race riots of the 50s-60s and how bloody things got. We all have older family that remember what it was like. That and we in general are raised to be more polite.
Perhaps they are polite enough to consider it "your own business." I appreciate that. I attended a previously all black college. I had someone yell "Cracker!" at me, and six other students immediately told them to STFU. It took me a few minutes to even understand, as I'd never heard that term..*going back in my mental files, searching, aha, civil war era term* I just about laughed as well. It had simply never happened before. As I am white, I guess, (no 23andme paperwork) I just shrugged and kept walking. The same person stared at me in shock when I sat for my sickle cell test. There was a law that said all students MUST be tested. He demanded to know WHY they were testing me, They were "Well, I might be part white! So I can't get it!" (afraid of needles) and before the nurses could speak up, I explained that I had no idea of MY heritage beyond a few generations. I could be part black and it would be unnoticeable Actually, many of the other students were simply afraid to be tested and I didn't want to raise more of a fuss by refusing. It all settled down after that. They continue to test all students. A later doctor, seeing my chart before my face, was startled. "WHY did they test you for sickle cell????" He asked. He just laughed when I told him.
@@cjthompson420 My guy, I also live in the south, and, while you may live in a comfy pocket of acceptance, you are not a monolith.
When I was growing up the terms were "Gentleman Farmers" or "Spinster Ladies" who lived together. Yeah, gay and lesbians have lived together and people went to all kinds of trouble to avoid saying what was right in front of their faces.
Why can't they just accept that people are different? Imagine what the world would be like if everybody was the same? Pretty boring.
Living gay in the south was the weirdest mixed bag I've experienced. I've never been treated worse, I've never been treated kinder or with more love.
But in the end I'll take CA thanks.❤❤❤
Someone from Alabama once told me "People in the south are either the sweetest people you ever met or a whole new breed of horrible."
Trae, you are a National Treasure!
One name: Lindsey Graham
Priceless, Trae! Thank you!
The state with the highest concentration of trans people is in the south (or at least, Appalachia, depending on how you define the south) - North Carolina.
Any state that was in the Confederacy is the South! Am I wrong?
@@gaywizard2000 you’re right, but I’ve had people from the Deep South give me hell for saying I’m a southerner cause it’s “north” Carolina
@@grimwizzard nice handle! This reminds me of the snl southern character who was going crazy over the snow in Georgia. "This isn't a northern place like South Carolina" so I guess it's true!?
@@gaywizard2000 kinda? People usually count Georgia down as the south, no matter where they’re from, but I’ve seen a lot of people say the Carolinas or Appalachia aren’t the south.
@@grimwizzard a schism amongst the southerners! Lol, I'm a Western Canadian!
I'm 64 and throughput my lifetime, I have befriended all types of people. Some were bilingual, bisexual, same sex only and group sex. And every single one of them were kind, well mannered, had heart and had suffered mean and hateful acts towards them. Everyone has a right to LIVE....💯👍💖👵😎
Right on ✌️ Love from a trans millennial.
I feel like our southern governments would benefit from the undoing of gerrymandering. If it's true that the south has the highest LGBT population, that means voter suppression HAS to be at work. Maybe if state elections weren't all screwy the south would be more progressive than it is, not to mention richer.
Once again, brilliant! Thanks Trae. As a fellow Southerner I say trucknuts = never, daisy dukes = anytime, anywhere!
I agree with them Daisy Duke's MMM hmmm
I'm from the upper midwest and I see a lot of similarities. While rural areas can be more tolerant of differences for people who fit a certain category: white, men, cis, employed, charming/sweet, in some creative field that doesn't threaten the status quo, as soon as you step outside that, you have trouble.
Wilton Manors is by Ft Lauderdale. South Florida is in no way even close to being part of "The South" than LA is simply because it has a southern latitude in comparison to the rest of the country. You might as well call Key West the Deep South.
Yes. I lived in the Panhandle; we call it LA., as in Lower Alabama. Although, more people up there are not from there.
It's also a gay village, so it isn't exactly indicative of progress elsewhere in Broward County, let alone Florida or the South.
Oohh the many days I’ve spent drinking ‘shine and eating cornbread with red beans and ham hocks in Key West. In short, you lie sir and besmirch my honor. Yes,I challenge you to a duel
I remember Wilton Manors in the 80’s I was trailer park Haven.
They only tolerate Gays in the USA because the rest of the world looks on them.
@@nenevz2948 Is it a legitimate challenge without the glove slap?
Absolutely fantastic, I'll subscribe to your new channel!
You, sir, are dangerously clever: “Charm will keep you alive.”
I am quite sure that I will never forget that saying. 😉🙏
its the American humour,animation is so good,and educational.
As a man married to the man in the south, my husband has me considering moving to yankee land haha. I did not know the number of us was so high down here until I thought about how many of us I know lmao 😂
Deliverance
Enough Said!
This is an amusing presentation with style .
Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and Asheville are the gay Bermuda triangle.
As in Bermuda shorts?
Trae ...you always bring something enlighting to the table...thank you ❤️🐾✌️
From an outsider perspective, YOU CAN STILL BE FIRED IF YOUR LGBTQ+ IF YOU LIVE IN THE WRONG PART OF THE USA!? Thats shocking. What age is this!? From across the pond keep up the fight 🏳️🌈
I think every state in the South has gay “pockets” where LGBTQ people find a welcoming community. I live in NC and there is Asheville in the Smokies and Wilmington on the coast. I live in the Piedmont region almost equidistant, so guess where my car is parked on the weekends !
Isn’t Raleigh also a very welcoming city for gays?
@@r.pres.4121 Yes it is 💕.
Edit: …and Charlotte 😁.
I knew Asheville had good urban planning but LGBTQ friendly, too? Now I have to visit.
North Carolina is THE gay southern state. Love that place. Wilmington, Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, New Bern, so many beautiful cities with good polite people.
I love you, Trae!
Love the “truck nuts” comment. I have always felt these folks hang those on the trailer hitch because there are none inside the cab.
Good one! I'm going to have to use that!
"Do you think maybe he's compensating for something?" I think of that line from Shrek every time I see a jacked up pickup truck.
@@elhoward7440I think their wives hang them there to remind them if they get too feral that's where they'll be sleeping and the only thing they'll have after the divorce is that truck and those balls.
I’ve seen that maybe 5 times ever and once was in upstate New York. Weird don’t y’all constantly cry about “ma fem shaming” 😅
@@Anahi1991 The funniest time I saw it was a car full of motley teen age guys driving around together all night in town (in a low riding car) on a Saturday with bright blue balls practically dragging on the ground. I don't know if they were advertising but it sure seemed to sum them up judging from the unhappy and desperate looks on their faces.
Love your accent - and your content...
The last laugh on Kim Davis will be when one of her grandkids turns out one of them letters...
Thanks especially for the Kim Davis update. Didn't know she was voted out or that the parade went right by her house. 😂
Leslie Jordan. Michael Jeter. That's two from Tennessee that I can think of without breathing heavy. Their Southernness AND gayness, together, is a winning combination.
“ Charm will keep you alive “ is a word !
Thanks for this, Trea!
That Southern drawl doesn’t exactly sound masculine, so you may be right.
This is great. Subscribed.
Am so glad to hear about Wilton Manors - I am not gay but Wilton Manor
Starbucks was my go to hang out spot. Love everyone there. P.S. the further
north you go in Florida the further south it is. Just saying. You go girl am loving
your content.
I know that it sounds unlikely, but I came out to my entire University in central Alabama in 1970. It was a great experience. A Psychology Professor asked me to answer some questions from his students, I did and it was great fun. (I was invited to do so again at Rice University in Houston in the late 90's) I was very lucky, I had a lot of supportive friends at the University who had my back if things went awry. Instead , I found love and acceptance while making lifelong friends.
I really wonder why I was so confident, so sure of myself and fearless, but for me being gay is as natural as breathing.
I have never for an instant questioned my sexual orientation, never dated girls, but I was still able to be very popular in my High School in the Florida panhandle. I have no idea of what made me bold enough to decide to never be closeted at age 19.
I have never been discriminated against, never had a bad social experience, have never been targeted for being gay. I am a very lucky man...
i love to hear this. ❤ my momma attended high school in the south in the early- to mid-70s, as did pops. they went to different high schools while they were datin but she graduated in 75 (i was born in 76 & raised down there as well). she & i both live in the midwest now but she's still besties with her gay friends from high school, all of whom now reside all over the country. she tells stories about how everyone in high school knew that these folks were gay (even if they weren't officially "out") but no one fkn CARED. her friends were funny, smart, popular, everybody loved em... it was a literal non-issue. to teenagers. in the south. in the mid-70s. i just don't understand wtf has happened to this country (i mean, i *do* but.... 🙄). all of this amazing progress was forged for decades & now bigots are tryna take over & erase it all. it disgusts me & i refuse to stand for it. 🚫 anyboobs, i hope you continue to prosper, random internet stranger. i gotcher back! 🫶🏽
@@BasesLoadedLacquer I graduated high school class of '04. In the 90s homophobia really reared it's ugly head and I experienced a lot of it going into the early 2000s til graduation. Oddly enough, a few teachers were gen x and totally cool with me being openly gay. Students my own age though, especially the boys, were often homophobic af. This frustrated the teachers because they knew it was hurting me and didn't see any sense in it.
It also depends on what group you're talkin about in the south. We got the war clans, the southerners and transplants.
Having recently moved to southern Middle Tennessee, I know all too well the bible thumping anti-gay type of the south. At work, only my boss and his wife know about me, none of my co-workers know anything and I'm trying to keep it that way. Here you can be fired from your job if it becomes discovered. Luckily my new boss has a company wide anti-discrimination policy in place which is strictly enforced. I want to be known for the person I am and not by what I am and by my keeping tight lipped, no one knows or has any clue and that suits me well. It is true, since moving here I am learning there are a lot and I do mean a lot of gay people down here which totally shocked me and not only that, there are actual hippies here too which just floors me. This is not the same Tennessee I remember as a little boy more than five decades ago. The numbers of gays are even huge in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Who knew?
I love Eastern Tennessee. Chattanooga and Soddy Daisy. More specifically, Mowbray Mountain. Got to swim in the headwaters of the Chattahoochee river. Don’t know about gays there. The subject never came up. Once accepted in the community, it seemed like one big family.
@@Picla_Peremohy- there’s a lot of beautiful nature here in south-east Tennessee.
Gonna be completely honest here, it’s kind of breaking my brain hearing this kind lgbtq support coming from a southern accent! Not a part of the community myself, just the trying to be best ally I can be.
What's a "literal child"?
Seriously???? A person who is under the age of 18.
@@snowmonster42 So, a child. Seriously (I guess).
Exactly! 😉
@AM-uh7mv LOL - something like that!
A child in the literal sense of the word, meaning an actual child. As opposed to the figurative meaning used when an adult acts childishly.. "he was such a child about it"
Deep Red West Texas? You can't swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting a lesbian.
It might be the fact that most of the South is Christian. I do believe it's called the Bible belt. You may not like Christianity but the South does.
The south also likes the KKK, so...
That was a wonderful video presentation😊
Being a daughter of Southern folk but raised in the North, I used to disagree with my husband when he would argue how backward and different people from the south were. He ended up being stationed at Ft. Campbell KY and I got a job working with some of those Southern folk. My co-workers had a meltdown when I revealed I was getting HBO installed with my cable. All I heard...."OH MY GOD, HBO?! THERE'S NUDITY!" I had to concede. My husband was so right. They are also the most racist bunch of people I have ever worked with as well.
And yet look who they vote for.
@@robotrix They're ok with sexual assault and "degeneracy" as long as the person doing it is also saying stuff they agree with.
having grown up in Hopkinsville can confirm..
Hey, gay southerners are still southern. Black southerners are still southern too.
Who do you think racist and backwards southerners are hurting?
The demographics who could consolidate power against them and challenge the status quo in their own region, if we had any power or mobility.
But yes, it’s hell here. Not just for northern transplants, but natives too. I sure as hell want out.
I just had an interesting conversation with my cousin about a prominent local person who is gay. My cousin had no idea. I told him that a lot of them are literally “hiding in plain sight” in my part of the south because of the way they are treated. If they are too obvious then they are seriously drawing attention to themselves & possible danger, but otherwise they’re everywhere. My LGBTQ+ daughter doesn’t want to live in my town just for her own safety even though she’s never came out to anyone else but family.
Ask your daughter what she wants to be referred as. LGBTQ+ covers the ENTIRE spectrum of non heterosexual identity. She’s not all of that.
I’m not mistreated in the south nor have I ever really been. Maybe we just don’t all introduce ourselves with our race and orientation here? 🤦🏿♂️
@@Kaia6485Exactly. At this point half them letters are just straight with extra steps. It’s enough already. These kids are blessed with a 70% acceptance rate we didn’t even have half of 25 years ago. Her kid is fine
Poor L’il Lindsey Graham. He should free himself… while removing freedoms for others, of course.
The Republican party is loaded with LGBTQ who find it makes them feel safe to take cover among bigots by pretending to be bigots themselves
With all the things that the gay community has contributed and continues to contribute to society. Imagine where would we be without them, and I'm not just referring to the "funny", obvious stereotypical things people think about, there so much more. Thanks, Trae, for showing this, and you did it all with comedy.
Imagine if ALL the funding poured into hateful, bigoted legislation had gone to Public Education instead. Imagine if we respected & valued our teachers, instead of treating them like garbage. (I'm not a teacher, btw). Then, we could *finally* become as great a nation as we've so long (& so wrongly) claimed to be. For a great nation would value All of its citizens, instead of targeting any populations for bullying purposes. It would Also tell the Truth about the many horrors of slavery.
The Former USA (well, we've lost the United part, as the GOP intended) suffers from pure Hubris, and it's left us vulnerable to the Greed Monsters who refuse to share anything beneficial w/ the middle & lower classes. Which is WHY the middle class is shrinking while homeless populations continue to grow. It's all cause & effect...what else did we expect to happen as the Titans of Industry sent our jobs to veritable slaves overseas, just to secure More Profits (when the folks at the Top were already raking in disgusting amounts of cash)? We've allowed this to happen, b/c we were blinded by our own Greed (& tribalism) over the past 50 years. Our kids & grandkids deserve so much more than to inherit a burned-out shell of a planet which may soon stop feeding so many mouths.
There's indeed enough here for everyone to live comfortably. Or, there was, until the wealthiest took an unfair share. There's just no longer enough for many to survive, after the Greed of those at the Top is factored into the equation. Some folks simply don't know what "enough" even means. What's enough food in a poor kid's stomach? What's enough wealth for an rich person to finally feel secure?
Newsflash for the cult: the folks trying to make education & medical care affordable, while simultaneously protecting Everyone's right to vote are Not the problem. The gang supporting a goon who has self-professed "love affairs" w/ murderous tyrants, and who told us all to "drink bleach" in the midst of a deadly pandemic ARE the problem. Time to FIX it.
Of course, we're also talking about a large group of folks whose religion told them Not to be Greedy pr*cks. So, they turned towards "prosperity preachers" instead, who now teach them bigoted hate, as well as excuse their greed. It's Corruption, plain & simple. God will have far more mercy for gay atheists than for these fake "Christians" now committing Idolatry on tRump's behalf, is my guess. Sure wouldn't want to be them. Toolkits packed with bigotry, hatred & greed won't be very useful in Paradise, as Heaven has Zilch need of such tools. Another Place needs them, instead. 🔥😈🔥
This country doesn't need more Millionaires & Billionaires who Don't care who suffers (just like Melania's coat stated when she visited brown kids thrown into cages b/c of where they were born). Our overseers use their "Culture war" B.S. to keep us all distracted so we won't knock them from the Top of the mountain. Time to knock them out of Power, anyway - b/c that Power is clearly ALL that matters to them.
What we badly need is more (& younger) public servants who know how to Serve, rather than merely how to TAKE. We NEED more people w/ some skin in the game, unlike McConnell & Co. Sadly, the geriatric generation who've accomplished this stranglehold on Power (b/c of their sheer numbers) Won't allow our long-treasured Democratic norms to remain rooted, and now seek a permanent one-party rule. Which is exactly what's meant when we call them "Y'all-Quaeda". Bullies are bullies, no matter what flavor. Guess who's Not gonna be missed once they're finally pushing up daisies?! 😠😡🤬
Just because the state doesn't pass a law doesn't mean you can be fired for being gay. U.S. Code Title VII applies nationwide, and since the Bostock decision in 2015, it protects employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity regardless of state or local laws.
its just good luck getting any recourse
"from a gay dog" That was hilarious.
High five on Kim Davis update!
I never knew, Funny.
Nothing wrong with love. ❤
The first gay nightclub I went to at age 18(man I went wild when my folks dropped me at college and I wanted to try everything) was in a small backwater town in East Tennessee. They put on a drag show Friday and Saturday nights and boy was that club wild. But I clearly remember the door was in the back and the parking lot was obscured by trees. I'm supposing now that people did not tell other people that they ever frequented The Connection. Yes, that was its name. My asexual friend and I took many different student co-workers there and at least one of them did end up in a gay relationship that we know of, there might have been more but East TN was definitely a no tell area 45 years ago. I was a little sister at a fraternity and there was this older dude who hang out with the brothers who was flamboyantly gay but they had no problem with him as long as he brought weed and coke with him.
The end tho 💀 lol so real, even today.
I’m excited to hear about Blue Ridge, Georgia. That’s not far from me. I might need to plan a trip there soon.
OMG! My Stepdaddy is from Union South Carolina! He and my Dad just celebrated their 44th anniversary. Love y’all like chicken!
Trae Crowder is a National Treasure
Why say "suck it to California?" We are a protected class here. I cannot imagine growing up trans in the south
Tell me more about Blue Ridge Georgia! I want to visit just to spend money and boost the economy and send a $$$ message to the bigoted part of Georgia that being a bigot costs you economically! My wife is Asian and said she wanted to see the South but after Trump and ilk we decided to never set foot in the South. Think we need to rethink that now. Thanks for your good work.
Huntsville Alabama is a great place to live. Most of the people with big money work for the government there, and the hometown people got lessons on how to behave, if they wanted to keep that big money there. In the 13 years that I lived there with my Black husband, there were never any problems with anyone being rude to us (well, except for a few Black women who didn't like me taking one of their men!)
Yes, we remember Kim.
Blue Ridge is my mom's hometown. From the stories she's told me it sounds like a lot has changed up there. She grew up in the 60s mostly and back then it was a racist hell hole.
@@krysti2 HSV is the hometown of a close friend of mine who I met when he lived in Atlanta. Around 2011 he moved back, partially to be closer to his aging parents. After he moved I frequently visited on my mini-road trips up there as I called it. I was surprised at how many LGBT people live up in northern AL. There was this big gay club in Huntsville that also impressed me. Viex Carre it was called. Not sure if it's still open or not. I made many good friends up there in the 2010s but sadly I've lost touch with some in the past few years.
Something else I noticed is that the community seemed more tight knit up there as opposed to Atlanta. Which is understandable. Any beef that happened between people was seen more like sibling rivalry. It wasn't uncommon for 2 younger gay men to get into a fist fight outside the bar then be back the next night with each other like nothing happened.
Always good to watch Trae on utube cause he won’t come to Tucson. He could play at The Fox Theater.
Love it when you make produced videos. I enjoy the podcasts too though.
I’m from Blue Ridge (and am queer). Yes, gay people were definitely welcome to revive the economy but the locals - the people who have had generations of family that lived there - still don’t accept us. My own family still pretends I’m not queer and will not discuss it even if I try to bring it up. They still invite me to Thanksgiving and all but won’t leave me alone with their children. Weird how they can believe “how gays are” from Fox News, etc. but won’t even see how this gay person who is right in front of them is.
thanks for your courage Trae!
The only reason the "South" has 35% of LGBTQ people is that it has 38.6% of the entire US population. Per capita it is *less* gay than the rest of the US. This definition of the "South" is sixteen states plus the District of Columbia, a huge swath of the country running from the southern Philly suburbs in Delaware all thew way west to El Paso in a big arc. Numerically it's true, but it's a little misleading. It's like taking the fact that the US has more hockey fans than Canada....which is true because we have nearly 9 times the population of Canada...and implying hockey is a biggewr deal to Americans than Canadians.
Yup and if gays are super into the lifestyle they are better served moving to gay meccas where creative careers are widely available. Simply logistically very difficult to work as a make up artist in a small town.
LINDSAY GRAHAM.
There I said it.
My cuz moved to California, from Tennessee, to get away from the hate.
As an LGBTQ Southerner there are indeed a lot of us here, which does not mix well with the hate but what are you gonna do
I wish every gay and trans person in the South nothing but the best. Where I'm from, when we hear white people using a Southern accent, we run away. We associate it with ignorance and violence. I guess that's ignorant too, but I'm not going to chance being attacked.
When you move away to another state (for better protections, to raise a family in a safe place, for example), sometimes an underlying accent can grow stronger. It gets worse when we start thinking about it too much too.
Since living in the PNW, I’ve heard and seen more outright racism, homophobia and slander than I ever heard growing up in semi-rural Texas, a place where I had several other LGBTQIA+ friends. It’s really weird.
I'm a Southern GAY, LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE. 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
"Gay" is an adjective.
Do southern gays only date their male cousins? Asking for a friend...
Yep. I quite love it here in Texas. Not sure what people whine about.
@@jaya.d-gauthier1644 The heat?
@@jamesmcinnis208 Well… ya got me lmao. It is hot 🥵
Love Trae Crowder!
DITTO !!
Great Video,thank you
Until a year ago I was just a normal 69yr old male but I had been having problems feeling sick all the time and test after test came back normal. I eventually asked for a testosterone test and there is was, the problem. They asked if I wanted a DNA test, so, being adopted I went for it as I had no medical history, what a surprise was coming.
It turns out I have two genetic disorders, one affects about 1:1000 males, Klinefelter's Syndrome, I have an extra X chromosome making me 47XXY. The genetics team then said had I not had Klinefelters Syndrome I would have been a hermaphrodite, on a 50/50 scale, that is known to have affected about 500 people they know about, that's not per year thats since records began. At present I can associate with The Borg as my designation is 2 of 3 in the entire world, since they first found anyone with 47XXY & 46XX & 46XY. So, people who think they can catch "The Gay" are numpties of the first order because there is a good chance you are born with it.
So, what does this do to me, well, I have never been attracted to men, so, does that make me a hetrosexual lesbian?
No lol.
You are still the same person you've always been! Having Klinefelter's syndrome doesn't mean you have to identify as a woman. You may identify with the term "intersex", as some others with Klinefelter's do, but you can also continue living life as a normal 69yr old male if you would like. :)
I hope you're feeling less sick these days!
And also, thank you for sharing your story! I think it is a good example of how being "biologically male" or "biologically female" is not always so straightforward! Our genes can get a lot more creative than that!
I caught “the gay” when I was 16. I tried to get rid of it but it just stuck to my genes like flies on horseshit. Thank you for sharing your story. I wonder how many people are in your same position and don’t know it. LLAP🖖🏻
You are so utterly confused it's honestly baffling. He*****odite is a slur and doesn't mean anything; there are far _far_ more than 500 people with XXY; don't call yourself a "heterosexual lesbian", that's fucked up, or for that matter don't ever call yourself a "lesbian" anything as a man
What's the cartoon? I need to watch more of it!
Its the same in the UK my gov. Is sadly promoting anti trans bigotry😢
I'm from Massachusetts and I lived in League City Texas for a year and I met more gay and lesbian people there than I had ever met in my whole life.
Love the new channel Trae 💙
If Crocs are considered to be the preferred shoe of lesbians…then sign me up & call me a lesbian! 🌈❤
So a couple buddies and I staged a photo of the two of them pissing on the Rowan county courthouse sign during Ms. Davis’ tenure. Adolescent yucks for sure, but the directions we got to get to the courthouse from the local IGA checkout lady were golden. “You go up three, and over two.”
Thanks Trae 😊
That would explain Lindsay Graham.
What did I just watch? I want more lol
I want to know where the gentleman in the thumbnail got the AWESOME pair of purple overalls.
Bless your heart, Trae.😏
95% of Southern men are 3 beers away from a gay fest.
Southern women too, let’s be real here.
Keep on reporting!