Re: gay Syd

Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Thu, 04 Mar 1999 22:10:39 +1100 

Scottie wrote:
>     I'm really astounded, Camille, by your report of 
>     the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras - watched, you say,
>     by 60,000.  How many participants ?

Oh God yes. And about a million more on the television the night after.
It's one of the social highlights of the summer for both gay and straight.
The aftershow party got so popular and became gatecrashed by so many
straight people they had to knuckle down on it a bit. It's broadcast on a
commercial network and generally wins the ratings. There were over 200
floats on subjects ranging from 20 sequinned cigar-toting Lewinskys to 50
female LAPDs arresting 50 male George Michaels to high profile politicians
and priests, from supporters of the cause to AIDS sufferers. Not sure on
actual figures but it would surely run into the thousands.

I worry deeply about your deep-tan deep-outback deep-philistinism view of
Australia, Scottie. Have you ever been here? The very fact that we're going
to sweep the Oscars in a few weeks should indicate we have at least a
little culture (and not just, as the old joke goes, in the yoghurt). I hope
you didn't get much publicity where you live for That Evil Woman politician
Pauline Hanson who briefly flamed the imaginations of the few rednecks left
and has since thankfully fizzled out, but you'll find that ultimately we're
a pretty damn tolerant society, being one of the most diverse on earth. Yes
there are Aussie Pooftas (I know dozen... after all I was in the theatre
business) and Aussie lesbians too. You'd be amazed how good tutus look with
Blundstone workboots.

Reminds me a little of a batch of penfriend letters our class got sent to
us from England. One letter non-ironically enquired `Do you learn by the
school of the air or do you actually live near a school?' I think the poor
dear thought that there was one per capital city which we all had to ride
to on the back of a wombat.

Kicks the crap out of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade I'm sure (:

Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST http://www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest