I was never truly anti-gay or homophobic. However, I did grow up in small town in Lousiana where there were very few gay people. There was one older gay guy in town that opened his house as a homestyle restaurant. We used to go there and the man had the tackiest nude statues and other art depicting nude males everywhere. People cracked jokes about it but it isn’t like the stereotypes of small town Southern people at all. People in school always made plenty of fag jokes too but I think that is common most places or at least it was.
I went to college at Tulane in New Orleans where there is obviously a huge (shameless) gay population. I got a job catering at a hotel my sophomore year of college. The manager “interviewed” me by having me come in, smile, and then do a series of walks around the room. Being so naive, I didn’t even know what was going on. The man’s name was Brian “Uncle Brian” and he became my sugar daddy because he liked attractive straight males to accompany him. Over the next three years, he took me to events and parties and whatever else and there were tons on gay men around. I got to know lots of them and many of them were prominent New Orleans people in business and the media. Not a damn thing ever happened because I believe I am almost 100% heterosexual but that allowed me to hang around them and get to know their particular subculture without any pretense. What a perverted bunch that was in every way but it was always good for shock and awe. I don’t know how typical that is other places but it certainly was there. I got hit on every way imaginable and learned words and phrases I never should have known.
I would respect gay right regardless but I did find that gay men can be quite funny, shocking, and certainly not boring and I value that type of diversity.