The first time I was called a faggot by a stranger was at a baseball game. More specifically, it was outside a baseball game, just after whatever the Cubs-White Sox series was being called in 2005 at what was then US Cellular Field.
The Cubs had been absolutely trounced by the White Sox that day and my friends and I hopped on the Red Line to head home. I grew up in the south suburbs, very much in the heart of White Sox country. As such, I was alone in Cubs gear among my group that was mostly decked out in Sox colors.