GCN Radio - November 11, 2005
Transcribed by Vombatus

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

[GCN Radio Intro]

BRIAN: Thanks everyone for tuning in. Here we are, Justin, on another Friday together on GCN Radio.

JUSTIN: Ahh, Friday!

BRIAN: Ahh, Friday, the weekend is ahead, and we love Fridays. Because it's GCN Radio day! Most of the time.

JUSTIN: Yes!! That's the best reason.

BRIAN: Indeed. Amen!

JUSTIN: Brian, I have a question for you.

BRIAN: Um hm?

JUSTIN: A few weeks back, you mentioned that you had a little problem with coffee...

BRIAN: Well, yeah, uh...

JUSTIN: What's going on with the coffee, Brian?

BRIAN: Well, see here's the deal, I enjoy mochas--not just regular coffee mochas, but white chocolate mochas as well, which adds about a dollar fifty to the price. And I live probably 50 feet from the campus bookstore where there is a popular coffee shop serving a very very popular brand of coffee. Upon visiting the department store and not fitting into the pair of pants I wanted I thought I have got to start kicking this habit. Not only is it hitting me in the waist region, but it's hitting me in the wallet. So I said I've got to stop these mochas and so far, it hasn't really happened. [laughs] It's not happening.

JUSTIN: Why not?

BRIAN: Because I have to pass the--I'll have to change the way I walk to work because I pass the place on my way into work. And nothing starts my day better than a nice warm mocha.

JUSTIN: Tsk tsk tsk.

BRIAN: And yet, I'm not getting any thinner.

JUSTIN: What does the Bible say?

BRIAN: And I'm certainly getting poorer.

JUSTIN: What does the Bible say, Brian, about God will always provide you a way out, that you can stand up under it when there's temptation? This is TEMPTATION. SIN!

BRIAN: No, but the mocha thing is still something I'm struggling with. The exercise bike thing isn't so great either, although that's better. So we'll see, by May maybe I'll look great. But probably not in time for Christmas.

JUSTIN: That's okay, you can wear a big sweater for Christmas.

BRIAN: Baggy clothes!

JUSTIN: Red and green with little--do your relatives or people that you know wear crazy sweaters for Christmas? Like, sweaters that they would...

BRIAN: I've seen them more at work, people that do that kind of stuff.

JUSTIN: I know people that would wear clothes at Christmas that they would never wear any other time of year. I mean, of course they would never wear them, because they're Christmas themed, but I mean, people who normally dress very conservatively will have these outrageous sweaters with Christmas trees and bells and ribbons and all kinds of things.

BRIAN: Absolutely, and the ties that light up with all kinds of lights...

JUSTIN: I know!

BRIAN: ...and play Christmas songs or something.

JUSTIN: Are there really ties that light up and play Christmas songs, I hope there aren't.

BRIAN: Unfortunately.

JUSTIN: Because if someone wears one around me...

BRIAN: Uh oh, look out!

JUSTIN: Look out! Because I don't want to see any of those.

BRIAN: Who knows that could be your boyfriend there with that Christmas tie.

JUSTIN: Well then I'll forgive him if it ends up being somebody that becomes my boyfriend.

BRIAN: Yeah, but I've seen them.

JUSTIN: Well, I have a confession to make.

BRIAN: Okay.

JUSTIN: I have a little temptation of my own right here.

BRIAN: What's that?

JUSTIN: You hear that noise?

BRIAN: I hear that noise!

JUSTIN: That is a bag of Halloween candy.

BRIAN: [Gasps] Leftover Halloween candy, oh!

JUSTIN: Well, not exactly leftover Halloween candy. Let me explain. Have you ever seen Psycho... I know this is a strange... Trust me, it's going to come back around.

BRIAN: Okay?

JUSTIN: Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins in this film, is eating candy. Very few people notice this. Do you know what kind of candy Norman Bates eats?

BRIAN: What would that be, Justin?

JUSTIN: Candy corn, in fact. This is trivia for all of our trivia buffs out there. Norman Bates eats candy corn, he nibbles on candy corn throughout the movie. And candy corn goes on sale the day after Halloween for obvious reasons.

BRIAN: Right.

JUSTIN: So I have two bags of candy corn...

BRIAN: So your addiction is candy corn. Okay.

JUSTIN: Right now it is. Who knows--remember we had the funnel cake discussion before. It was so bad!

BRIAN: I wouldn't have to get you any. You can go buy candy corn till your fix is fixed, as it were.

JUSTIN: And I really shouldn't have bought it. I bought it because it went on sale and now I have way to much of it and it's always around.

BRIAN: I didn't have lunch. I'm hungry and want some candy corn.

JUSTIN: I know, this show... don't ever listen to GCN Radio when you're hungry or if you're on a diet.

BRIAN: It's a mistake.

JUSTIN: It is a mistake. Next time we'll be talking about favorite cakes.

BRIAN: [laughs]

JUSTIN: Red velvet cake. Yum.

BRIAN: Wow.

JUSTIN: Okay, so...

BRIAN: So we've got other stuff going on.

JUSTIN: Okay, so let's talk about the show today.

BRIAN: Sure, that'd be a good thing.

JUSTIN: First off, just as an update, we had a question of the week recently that I'm going to postpone the answers for because we've gotten some amazing answers. We asked a question last week, I think it was, about being in the closet and we wanted to hear from people who were in the closet and hear some of their experiences. If you are in the closet and you have not yet called us or sent us a message through our website, there's still time.

BRIAN: You can actually call us from the closet. You can go into your closet. Give us a call.

JUSTIN: That's right.

BRIAN: 1-888-GAY4GOD. So, excellent.

JUSTIN: MMmmm. Candy corn, mmmmm.

BRIAN: We're all pausing now while Justin eats another candy corn. Never mind that that's an extra minute of download time that everyone took to wait. But hey, you know, it's okay! It's all right.

JUSTIN: Fine, make me feel guilty. Now I'm going to feel like everything I say has to be profound because people are spending a long time downloading this.

BRIAN: Well, I mean that if we're taking precious bandwidth for you to eat candy corn, I mean, Good Lord! Guys, what has this come to?

JUSTIN: Okay.

BRIAN: You know, you mentioned something earlier, Justin, about the crazy sweaters and crazy socks and all of the things that people do and it brings up this whole notion of stereotypes and we can all talk about the people we know. In fact, let's talk about the people that we know. Let's take my roommate for example. He is a tremendous guy. A wonderful gay Christian who... we are the Odd Couple. We are Felix and Oscar. He is very, very neat, very organized, he's wonderful in the kitchen and I'm not.

JUSTIN: What??

BRIAN: I am the opposite, almost. He had to show me how to use a coffeemaker the other day, and I'm like, "Oh my goodness sakes, I'm so embarrassed". And then we were making eggs and he said, "You know Brian, those eggs look a little bit runny, let's add some cheese to absorb some of that." You know, he's helping me, but we all come in different abilities, shapes, and sizes, and either vast or limited knowledge and repertoire of theatre, music. We're all different and I think that's something that's important to understand.

JUSTIN: Mum... Brian, I'm disappointed in you. You don't conform to the stereotypes of gay men.

BRIAN: Well, um...

JUSTIN: You can't be messy and be gay, don't you know that?

BRIAN: Hey, I just learned to wear black shoes and a black belt!

JUSTIN: Yes.

BRIAN: And I am happy now that I know this.

JUSTIN: Carson would be proud.

BRIAN: I'm better, I'm a better gay man! Because I now match my belt, shoes, and socks, and especially I've learned the importance of brown socks and brown shoes.

JUSTIN: Hmmm, okay.

BRIAN: With a brown belt and khakis. I had to be trained, I was not born with this. I feel somehow deprived, like somehow I missed the gay gene, or something.

JUSTIN: Well, I wanted to talk a few minutes about stereotypes, because--and I've taken up so much of the show eating candy corn, I apologize--

BRIAN: Oh well, we'll forgive you.

JUSTIN: But, no. Because I think this is a great topic. We actually talked about this briefly on a show in our very first season. Remember, we had Mark on and we talked to him about sports.

BRIAN: He loved sports!

JUSTIN: He loved sports, right. Gay guys that love sports. But there are, there are a lot of stereotypes! You know, we can go through them like, for instance, fashion. Since you're talking about fashion. Gay men are supposed to be fashionable.

BRIAN: Not all of us are. And... they know how to cook. 'All gay men know how to cook'.

JUSTIN: But what about lesbians? What about lesbian fashion?

BRIAN: Oh, plaid...

JUSTIN: Lesbians are supposed to have really short hair, right? Or like buzz cuts.

BRIAN: Right, they're supposed to always be really good with tools.

JUSTIN: Right, they live at Home Depot, right? And gay men live at the theatre. You know, we watch Broadway shows constantly.

BRIAN: And somehow we're born knowing every single song from every single show.

JUSTIN: Right, you come out of the womb, "You'll be swell, you'll be great! Gonna have the whole world on a plate!" I don't know why Ethel Merman...

BRIAN: See, you can do that, I can't. I'm a little theatre-deprived. I'm learning, but I'm having to be trained.

JUSTIN: I like musicals. I don't like all musicals. There are some gay men who know a lot more about musicals that I do. I have a friend who is constantly just quoting musicals and I have no idea what he's talking about. And then I think he's shocked that I don't know, you know. "It's Sondheim! How do you not know Sondheim??" I don't know, is that a show? "No, it's a person, you idiot!"

BRIAN: [laughs]

JUSTIN: You know.

BRIAN: I just saw Sweeney Todd, by the way, it was awesome. Had to throw that in there.

JUSTIN: I've never seen it, know nothing about it. So you know. But then on the other hand, I actually do know some musicals. Rent. I mean, how stereotypical is that, that I'm gay man that knows Rent. It seems like all gay men know Rent. And I have friends that don't know Rent.

BRIAN: Are they gay?

JUSTIN: Yeah, I have gay friends that don't know Rent.

BRIAN: Really, there's such a thing?

JUSTIN: Gay MALE friends.

BRIAN: Whoa!

JUSTIN: One of my gay male friends says, "I feel really left out because I've never heard Rent. I don't know anything about Rent." So there are these stereotypes. I feel like I'm kind of in the middle because I know some musicals and not others. I don't really think it's because I'm gay, it's just because I happen to know them, but what do I know.

BRIAN: And I don't know if you feel like I do. I mean, I was not born with a lot of this gay knowledge other than that I like guys. That I was born with, but it makes one feel left out sometimes when maybe you're not the typical person or you want to say, "Hey, I'm a different person and I'm okay. Because maybe musicals are not my thing, but sports is my thing."

JUSTIN: Um hmm.

BRIAN: You know, how do we treat other people with different interests and abilities and we haven't even talked body type. That's a discussion I really don't want to have, but there are people who define people by body types. But can't we all be Christian and one in Christ and all that, or am I just idealistic?

JUSTIN: Well, I mean, I think we can but then I think there's still sort of the question of are these stereotypes true, to some extent. Is there a reason that lesbians might wear particular kind of clothing and gay men might wear a particular type of clothing. And then what is fashion, anyway, when we talk about are gay men fashionable? What is fashion? If Carson on Queer Eye says something's fashionable does that make it fashionable? Is he fashionable just because he's gay or just because he is on national television?

BRIAN: Who defines it?

JUSTIN: Right!

BRIAN: And then why do we follow it? Why are we pressured to follow it?

JUSTIN: Exactly. So, okay, I know we're running out of time for the show today, but I want to ask this question of our listeners, because I want to talk about this more on a future show. What do you think about stereotypes? Stereotypes about sex... like gay men are promiscuous, for instance, as a stereotype. Stereotypes about fashion, about all kinds of things--gay men like to work out, or lesbians love particular kind of music, or whatever.

BRIAN: Melissa Etheridge.

JUSTIN: Right. And gay men, too! Melissa Etheridge. Lots of gay men love Melissa Etheridge.

BRIAN: Or Barbara or Madonna.

JUSTIN: Oh, I know. Cher, has a huge gay following, right? So, what do you think about these stereotypes? Do you fit the stereotypes? Do you not fit the stereotypes? Do they make you angry? Do you think that they're pretty true? What do you think? Sound off! And you can do that by going to our website at http://www.gaychristian.net/gcnradio/ or, the preferable way, call us if you're in the US or in Canada, call us toll-free 1-888-GAY4GOD to let us know what you think about stereotypes.

BRIAN:W whether you fit them, the role they play in your life, how do you feel about them. I guess I'll go ahead and say right now I'm not a big fan of them. But I know they exist and they're funny and I'm actually learning from my friends of other interests and who have other skills. I think I'm becoming a better person because of that. But in general I think that we put too much emphasis on it in our society. But you know, I'm curious to see what kinds of answers we're going to get.

JUSTIN: Yeah, me too. I'm sure they'll be good.

BRIAN: Absolutely.

JUSTIN: So call us, let us know what you think.

BRIAN: Well, fun. So I'll be working on my coffee problem and riding the exercise bike so that when I show up at the GCN conference in January perhaps I'll be able to look my best. And of course, in my brown belt and brown socks and brown shoes.

JUSTIN: I'm actually... I joined a gym.

BRIAN: Oh wow!

JUSTIN: Again, another stereotype that gay men all belong to gyms and work out all the time, you know.

BRIAN: This is extroverted for you.

JUSTIN: I did! I joined a gym, finally, I've never belonged to a gym before, Brian. I'm a 28 year old gay man and I've never belonged to a gym, and I just joined one. I'm not trying to become some kind of Abercrombie & Fitch model or something and go out there and be a looker... Do people even use that word? I don't know. But I'm not trying to go out there and do that whole thing. It's just that I want to get more exercise because I work in one place at a desk, at a computer, all day long. I thought I really need a place to go and get more exercise and I have to tell you it gives me so much more energy. I feel so good after doing it.

BRIAN: Excellent!

JUSTIN: Yeah.

BRIAN: Well, Justin we've come to the end of another show and we thank everybody for listening, especially all the new people who maybe discovered us on their iPod(R) or on iTunes(R) or any of their podcasting software... I don't mean to give any brand names out there. We certainly appreciate everyone's support and tuning in here to GCN. Please send us comments. Let us know how we're doing. You can go to your e-mail and e-mail us at gcnradio@gaychristian.net.

JUSTIN: And I'll be sitting here eating candy corn while reading your mail.

BRIAN: All right, that's great. Okay, so respond to our questions and we'll look forward to seeing you next week. So for this week, I'm Brian...

JUSTIN: [mumbles, mouth full of candy corn] ...and I'm Justin! See you next week!

BRIAN: Okay!

JUSTIN: Bye bye!