And it's obviously not the case that there was a liberal box to check on the application, but it speaks to a very real insecurity in these places that you have to pretend to be somebody you're not to get past these various social barriers.
E ovviamente non intendeva se c'era una casella da segnare sulla domanda, ma questo esprime una reale insicurezza in questi posti far finta di essere chi non sei per superare queste barriere sociali.