Posted by bluedog on February 10, 2003, at 11:03:33
In reply to Re: That's a deal, posted by bookgurl99 on February 10, 2003, at 7:51:48
Hi Bookie
Gee, and here I was thinking Australia was the centre of the universe:).
> Your questions about the geography of Madison, Wisconsin make me laugh.
Give me some credit...I actually knew that WI stood for Wisconsin even though I didn't know where it was located. Pretty clever aren't I???? I will however ask a very dumb question now....is Madison in Madison County.....like in the book and the Clint Eastwood movie...you know "The Bridges of Madison County"? Or am I making you double over in fits of laughter again?
> Hmm. . . according to Mapquest, Central Park in NYC is 947.86 miles(1521.45 km), or 15-1/2 hours of driving, away. San Francisco City College is 2097.65 miles(3377.78 km), or 35 hours of driving away. Either way, that's a long way to go for coffee with a girl. :D
>Hey I'm flying 3/4 of the way around the world to get to the US so don't think a little 15 hour drive is going to put me off...especially for the right girl. Anyway, to an Aussie in the state in which I live a 1500 Km drive is pretty standard fare.....Ive actually driven that distance a couple of times up north merely for an Easter long weekend holiday. Sounds though like the New York option sounds like the most sensible plan for our date.....are there any nice cities or towns sort of half way between Madison and NYC?...Off the top of my head Boston would be somewhere between those cities wouldn't it? Or maybe even Philadelphia but I've just seen the movie Philadelphia (again) with Tom Hanks and it seems that they don't like gays in Philly either (I'm really testing my geography now and am deliberately refusing to look up a map of the US...I love testing myself like this...or alternatively showing up my ignorance. If I were to look up a map now it would take all the fun out of this for me)
> The nearest big city to me is Chicago, Illinois. Wisconsin (the 'dairy' state) is the state directly north of Illinois. I live in the southern part of the state about 3 hours away from Chicago.
>Ah Hah...I know where Chicago is:) :). Is Madison directly North of Chicago...or is it more North East.....and Detroit is somewhere around there as as well isn't it???? (The Great Lakes region right??...now I'm really testing my geography!!!!) Is Milwaukee also somewhere in that region....I'm sure that's where where they made that old TV series "Laverne and Shirley". Am I right?
>
> I think your friend should get married _here_. It is cold in winter (Oct-Mar), but much cheaper than San Francisco and still gay-friendly.
>Is the deep South also gay-friendly?????....I've heard this rumour that they are particularly tolerant of black homosexuals in the deep south :) {don't answer this question because it may lead down the path of stereotypes again :) :)} I hear it's much warmer in the deep south though but maybe just a little steamy/muggy/humid.
> When you say Aussie law doesn't allow for same-sex wedding, do you mean that it even disallows same-sex ceremonies of marriage?
>Very interesting question. Aussie land is a free and democratic country so they can't stop same sex ceremonies but they simply don't have any legal force or standing in the eyes of the law. Some christian demoninations even (officially) allow gay priests here I think. I must ask my friend about your questions. I have a day off work tomorrow but I will speak to her on Wednesday and ask her about this! However the "bible bashers" usually get pretty hot under the collar about the whole subject and will usually come out in force if they hear about a same sex ceremony and let the individuals involved know that they will "BURN IN HELL".
It's quite funny at work because I have a colleague who is very strongly religious and makes it clear to everyone that my lesbian friend will burn in hell when she dies.... but has never actually said this to my friend directly......which I might add she finds extremely amusing. In fact he is as nice as pie and ultra polite when speaking directly with my friend....I actually think he's scared of her because she has a very strong personality and is a natural leader that people tend to gravitate towards.
Certain States in Australia are more liberal about the whole gay issue than other states and it also depends on whether there is a Liberal State government in power (equivalent to the US Republican party......actually the Liberal party is a rather strange name for this particular political party because it is actually a conservative party and not at all liberal in the normal sense of the word) or a Labour state government in power (equivalent to the US democrats) Basically the Labour Party is far more tolerant towards issues of gay rights. However same sex marriages are not yet given official legal recognition...though I suspect it will only be as matter of time before at least some states will officially recognise the practice.
Keep well booky
A big kiss on your other cheek now
bluedog
poster:bluedog
thread:36630
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030208/msgs/36776.html