(Preface the following by noting that Southern culture is quickly diluting due to population shifts and stereotypes will over time dissolve.)

(Traditional) Southern culture has a strong current of gossip and whispering rather than full-on confrontation, and that hissing undercurrent of “we know but we aren’t going to speak of it” causes more closeted behavior than it helps. If I know you don’t like/want me and it’s evident to everyone in the community, then I have more opportunity to take a stand and “live as I please.” If the entire town knows but doesn’t say anything, then I am silently kept in my place, and I may even develop the belief that “this is what I deserve for being what (not who) I am.” So you can see how in that example town, no self-respecting man would go to his doctor and ask for an HIV screening. And so, AIDS moves out of the cities (where such testing is easier to get anonymously, and is more common) into the Heartland (where if I take the test, then I’ve done “something wrong” to deserve having to take the test.) Having grown up there, I don’t believe HIPPA exists in a small (very small) southern town.

As I’m typing this, I’m reminded of another movie you should check out. It’s a near-slapstick comedy, but in this humor there is great truth: “Something in the Water.” Ignoring some of the comedic sub plots, the main impression is the difference between how the town accepts one gay man (a decorator, of course) and one Junior League stereotype woman who discovers early the the movie that she is a Lesbian. This causes a major town freak out.

Even though it’s set in New York City, there’s a similar thought (though much more dark) in the Mormon story line in “Angels in America.”

Thank you so much for your comments! You really got me thinking this morning about cultures, Southernism, and (one of my favorite topics) gay movies. Keep the faith!

– Rev.