<p>Marsian, I agree there is a problem with the way different areas are portrayed, but it is also exacerbated by the locals. When gay students in New York are bullied, it does make it into the press (at least in the northeast) and the locals are very vocal speaking out against it.</p>
<p>Given that I live in the northeast, not the south (though I have relatives in the south and have visited many times), I don’t read the southern papers, and don’t really know what the majority there believes. But when the video of this student went viral, the message was that the locals all supported him. The national press that initially went crazy over this story were those who congratulated him, making it at least appear that the majority agreed with him.</p>
<p>From my perspective, it is not the liberal northern press that is painting this picture of southerners, but the conservative portions of the press that has a stake in maintaining the illusion that the south really is that conservative. To be honest, I suspect the majority of southerners don’t really care, just as the majority of northerners don’t either. The difference is the very vocal minority in the north is the extreme liberals, while the vocal minority in the south is the extreme conservatives.</p>