re: When will gay jokes from student hecklers become unacceptable?

This is the South - you can assume I'm a white male but the truth is it doesn't really matter. People in the South tend to say things in casual conversation and other settings that people in the north won't - goes for both white and black. That's not a revelation. However, I've heard more old white ppl talk shite than black ppl of any age group and my particular area of the South - the Upper South in E. TN - is a different world. It's neither Deep South nor North and for the most part escaped the various tensions that arose in both places.

We have racists but compared to a lot of places (even other places in our own state) we are some mellow mothefrickas.

I don't see why it's difficult for you to concede that where you are matters a great deal when it comes to race. History both long past and the recent past has an enormous impact on tensions and resentments.