As someone who grew up in the American South, the Confederate, Dixie, or Rebel flag represents many different ideas to people. The most common is rebelling against the government. Racism isn't subtle in the South, you don't need to hang the Southern Cross to express your racism as you can do it quite openly and vocally without much recourse; however, Northerners will always see the Confederate flag and think: "racist flag".
Racism is quite common in the south, which is why I left, but I still dislike federal and state government overreach. I think libertarian "Don't tread on me" symbolism has replaced the Dixie flag in most of the country for expressing scepticism of central control. The government will always try to paint any rebellious symbolism as subversive; see the sceptical looks of your liberal neighbors for flying an American flag.
It does not surprise me that someone would find the ideas of rebelling against the government AND sexuality norms as good bedfellows.
#thoughtstr
