GCN Radio - March 12, 2004
Transcribed by Vombatus

To listen to this episode, visit http://www.gaychristian.net/gcnradio

[music]

BRIAN: Welcome to another edition of GCN Radio. I’m Brian in Muncie, Indiana …

JUSITN: …and I’m Justin in Raleigh, North Carolina.

BRIAN: So here we are, it’s March.

JUSTIN: It’s March already?

BRIAN: Already, if you can believe it. And it’s very rainy here today, but the temperature’s warm, we’re in the mid-50’s finally. All the ice and snow is melted where I am and I’m awfully happy about that!

JUSTIN: It’s very warm today here, too, Brian. For the first time I walked outside wearing a turtleneck and realized it was too hot to wear a turtleneck, and so I went back inside and put on a t-shirt. And I’m so excited to be wearing a t-shirt again!

BRIAN: Yay! And I think that I’m going to put my leather jacket back in the closet and bring out my spring jacket. In anticipation of what is sure to be consistently warmer weather here in beautiful Muncie, Indiana, I hope. Speaking of weather, we have the privilege of asking, “How’s the weather in the UK, Alma?” Our guest today on GCN Radio, it’s everyone’s favorite poster, Alma! It’s good to have you along.

ALMA: It’s good to be here, thank you for inviting me.

BRIAN: What is the weather like there?

ALMA: It’s actually been freezing today; it was very cold this morning. Quite cold this afternoon as well.

BRIAN: Now, do you get snow there?

ALMA: We’ve had a tiny bit of snow the other day. It didn’t last very long. We don’t normally have much snow in winter, but it does get quite cold. Way too cold for me.

BRIAN: In the summertime, though, does it get pretty warm?

ALMA: Sometimes we have a summer, sometimes we just have the rain all through the summer. But it can be quite warm. Last summer was very hot.

BRIAN: The very first question I want to ask is: Say for us your real name. So we all hear how it sounds.

ALMA: Okay. A lot of people have been asking me this, and the way I say it is ‘leez-ee-ann’.

BRIAN: Lysiane, Lysiane.

ALMA: It’s difficult to explain to everybody on Messenger how to actually pronounce it.

BRIAN: ‘leez-ee-ann’. Am I saying it correctly?

ALMA: Yes, you are, yes.

BRIAN: You’re French, but you live in Middlesex, England.

ALMA: That’s right, yes.

BRIAN: How long have you lived there?

ALMA: It’s a long time, now! It’s probably about seventeen years. Sixteen or seventeen years, I’m losing count, I’ve been here too long.

BRIAN: Wow! That’s great.

ALMA: Yeah, my husband’s British, so it was either here or in France, and he doesn’t speak French so it was logical that I came here.

BRIAN: And you’ve been married about 13 years, huh?

ALMA: Yes, yes.

BRIAN: Two kids, 8 and 11. I’ve read up on you a little bit! It’s called ‘I’ve printed out your profile and I’m looking at it right now.’

JUSTIN: This is interesting, because you’re our first UK member on the radio show—which I just realized this, I was sitting here thinking you’re the first one!

ALMA: Thanks a lot for picking me, for asking me!

JUSTIN: Oh, we’re excited to have you on! But trying to think who’s been on the show, you’re also the first straight person we’ve had on the show. Isn’t that right Brian?

BRIAN: I think so. Officially, I think you are our first straight person.

JUSTIN: But that brings up a question for me, which is, “What attracts a straight woman to GCN?”

ALMA: Okay, I’ve already posted quite a few times the story behind this. My best friend from Australia is gay. I’ve known him about seventeen years now… maybe longer now, I can’t remember. I’ve been through with him all the troubles he’s had while coming out, with his family, with all of this. And I’ve always felt for all this time that it was so unfair the way people are treated just because they are different. So for sixteen, seventeen years I’ve felt it was so unfair and I couldn’t do anything about it; I wanted to, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Every time I’ve been in a conversation and the subject came up, I’ve always kind of said my bit, what I knew from him. But I’ve met other gay people in my life—I don’t know, it’s just something that speaks to me. My husband actually mentioned something to me about gay Christians last September and I did a search on the internet and came across GCN. And I’ve not left!

BRIAN: That’s awesome.

JUSTIN: We’re so glad to have you. Everybody who meets you, online or elsewhere, everybody just has wonderful things to say about you all the time.

ALMA: Oh, thanks.

BRIAN: You are one of the most supportive people, and easiest people to talk to, and warmest. I guess I wanted to ask you: you’re so quick to help people, and that’s so wonderful, what is it that you need, that we can do for you?

ALMA: You’ve already given me everything that you can do for me: Friendship. I mean, this is why I joined GCN in the first place. I wasn’t particularly looking for a Christian site or a gay site, I just found it. I believe I was led to GCN. My husband just happened to mention something that was in the news. I never found out what was in the news! But I think I was led there, and when I found the site, I just couldn’t believe the posts there: the warmth, the people, the way everyone is so caring. I just wanted to be part of that group very, very much and I wasn’t sure how people were going to react. But people have welcomed me and I’ve just made so many friends there since then. There’s just nothing else you could do for me.

BRIAN: That’s great. You are Catholic, but your husband is not.

ALMA: That’s right, he’s not a Christian, he doesn’t believe in God.

BRIAN: How do you work that out in your marriage?

ALMA: Well, he has a lot of respect for my beliefs. And I, although I obviously don’t agree with his beliefs, I know I can’t push anything onto him. We kind of respect each other’s beliefs a lot. We’ve talked about it and we definitely don’t agree on a lot of issues, but we agree to respect each other’s beliefs. He will come to church with me occasionally as well.

BRIAN: That’s great. I was going to ask: GCN is not the only place on the internet that you visit. I read that you have other places and other friends on the internet. What other sites are you part of?

ALMA: I used to belong to some music sites. I even had my own for a while, which I still do but I haven’t been there for quite a long time.

BRIAN: You have your own site?

ALMA: I did. It was just kind of a friendship group, there was only about 15 to 20 people or so. Some of my personal friends, my husband as well. But I just don’t have the time for any of them anymore, I just spend all of my time on GCN. And when I’m not posting on GCN, I’m on the Messenger speaking to people from GCN. [laughs]

JUSTIN: Wow.

BRIAN: That’s awesome.

ALMA: No, I just love GCN and the people there so much. I even go there from work, which I shouldn’t do.

BRIAN: What kind of work do you do?

ALMA: I work in a company that buys and sells ingredients for cosmetic products. And I just do all of the purchasing there.

BRIAN: I know we’re kind of bouncing around a little bit, but… you were mentioning that you enjoy music and you sent me a little music file and we started the show with a little bit of it. But we’ll play this now and I want you to tell me about this artist, if you would.

[music]

BRIAN: So, his name is Medwyn Goodall? Am I saying that correctly?

ALMA: Yes, you are. And the track is called “Dreaming with the Stream” and I just absolutely adore his music.

BRIAN: How do you know him?

ALMA: I just went in a New Age shop one day and I think they were just playing that kind of music in the shop and I just loved it so much instantly and I bought my first CD. And that was it, I was hooked straight away and I’ve got about twenty right now, maybe more.

BRIAN: And you know him personally, you say?

ALMA: I’ve not met him as a person, as such, but I do go to his website to buy his CD’s because they’re not that easy to find in the shops. He’s got a message board on the website, so I’ve gotten to know him through the message board.

BRIAN: And what’s the website? Can we mention that?

ALMA: Yes! It’s http://www.medwyngoodall.com/, I think.

BRIAN: Okay, okay.

JUSTIN: Well, I have a question. I’m curious about your perspective on maybe differences that you’ve observed… do you see differences between the way that gay people are or the way that Christians are, say, in the UK as opposed to what you hear about things in the United States? Do you think that the situations are different?

ALMA: From what I’ve read on GCN, it seems to be a lot harder for the people in the USA. They seem to have a lot more opposing views than here.

JUSTIN: Do you think it’s easier for gay people to be out, say, in England?

ALMA: Yes, I think so and things are improving here, I think. Although I’m probably not the best person to ask this to.

BRIAN: What do you think the factor is in that? Why do you think it’s better there than in the United States?

ALMA: I’m wondering actually if it’s because there’s maybe less religious people here. I wonder. I think that England as a country is possibly less religious than a lot of other countries. I’m not really sure. I’ve never come across someone here who’s really, really against gay people. I have come across one in the United States last year and that kind of shocked me a little bit.

JUSTIN: I’ve heard similar things from people that I talk to in Canada. They say that they don’t understand some of the kinds of very hateful sorts of anti-gay speech that go on in the US, because they say that that’s not a part of what they’ve experienced there.

ALMA: It was a shock for me to come across that last year from someone in the USA, I just didn’t expect it at all. That was a new experience; it wasn’t pleasant.

JUSTIN: Do you think that England being, in your perspective, a less religious country, do you think that it’s more difficult to be a Christian in England?

ALMA: I think actually, I think it’s probably harder for me to be a Christian in England than it is for me to be a Christian in France, for example. But I can’t say about the USA because I’ve never been either. But in France, everybody else is a Christian, or near enough. Here sometimes I get weird looks at work if I say anything about Christianity. I’m the odd one out.

BRIAN: Wow, that’s quite something to hear about how things operate in other countries. As we go, I had a final question. Speaking of other countries and on a slightly lighter note: about your favorite food. You list as your favorite food—and I don’t know if I’m saying this right—the Maori food from New Zealand?

ALMA: That’s right.

BRIAN: What’s that?!

ALMA: Okay, I’ve been to New Zealand for a month for a holiday some years ago. And the way they cook the food is amazing! They dig an oven in a hole in the ground—originally they were doing this over some volcanic activity, some hot water pools—and they put baskets of food in there and the food cooks from the steam that comes up from the water. And they cover that with a cloth or something and they leave it for about twelve hours or so to cook, naturally.

BRIAN: Wow!

ALMA: And when you eat that you get, I remember, something as simple as carrots with so much more flavor than any other I’ve ever eaten. And everything was just amazing.

BRIAN: That’s really interesting.

JUSTIN: Well, now you’re making me hungry.

ALMA: Well, go to New Zealand and try it if you ever get the chance.

JUSTIN: All right, Brian, you know the next thing we’re going to have to do is have a fundraiser to send me to the UK, and to France, and to New Zealand. So I can really compare the food, and also how easy it is to be gay or Christian.

BRIAN: Hey, we’ll get that up on the donations and support page immediately.

JUSTIN: Right.

BRIAN: Well, Lysiane, thank you so much for being part of GCN Radio today.

ALMA: And thank you so much for letting me be part of GCN. I love it so much there I don’t ever want to leave.

JUSTIN: Oh, well please stay!

BRIAN: Please? You’re quite an example.

ALMA: Oh, thanks. Well, everybody’s so nice.

BRIAN: Well, I think that does it for this week’s show, we’ll look forward to seeing you again next week. And as always, you can listen to us online at www.gaychristian.net/gcnradio/

JUSTIN: And if you have any comments, questions, suggestions for future shows, you can send those to Brian at gcnradio@gaychristian.net and you can e-mail me at justin@gaychristian.net.

BRIAN: So, from Muncie, Indiana, I’m Brian…

JUSTIN: …and I’m Justin, here in Raleigh.

BRIAN: Take care, see you next time.

[music]