[rybosome]

Columbus native here. It varies wildly; my wife lived in an upper-class suburban area and reports an experience similar to yours, but I grew up in a poorer, slightly more rural-adjacent area. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I was called a “faggot” for things like wanting to recycle or not wanting to get in fistfights. I overheard racial epithets on a near-daily basis; telling racist jokes where the punchline was the death or maiming of a minority were widely socially acceptable.

Culture is the #1 reason that I have no desire to move back to Columbus.

[empthought]

Was this during the 80s or 90s? Things have changed all over the place since then.

[rybosome]

I graduated from Ohio State in 2011 and moved away in 2012, so much more recently than that actually. A woman that I dated in high school is now a teacher at the school we graduated from, and she told me that she sees pretty vile behavior from her students (particularly after the election). So we are not talking about a long time ago, nor are we talking about one or two isolated incidents.

[jimwalsh]

Things are much different in Columbus now, also you can't run from ignorant people. They exist everywhere, even in SV.