WE should probably ease up on GALAXUS and his OP. He does bring up a good point about media images. If you grow up in middle America (I'm originally from Ohio myself), you don't really see gay couples.
The media isn't much better, and frankly, the gays that are depicted - Elton John, Ellen, Rosie O'Donnell - are too often caricatured and are not taken seriously. They are simply slotted into the "celebrities who happen to be gay" category and are mentally marginalized. In the absence of one well-identified gay couple, the OP can't be blamed for asking a slighty naieve question.
I didn't know of any gay couples until well after I graduated from college. The only clue that I had of gay couples were two men who lived in a house together down the street. Luckily, my mother explained that the two men were probably living together as "man and wife" - I was ~ 12 at the time - but she never applied any negative judgment and had them over once... I guess as the only Black family on the street, who were we to discriminate against the only gay couple on the street
.
Galaxus is 20 years old now. I recommend that if he has any gay/lesbian friends, he should track them over time. He'll probably discover that they will form relationships ... Seven years from now, when his friends are ready to marry, perhaps several more states besides MA, CT, ME, IA ([possibly NY, NJ) will allow for same sex marriage....
P.S. I just looked up stats on the top 10 highest concentrations of gays/lesbians based on census data.
The top areas neighboods in Boston and Provincetown MA, Chelsea in New York City, certain neighborhoods in San Francisco, West Hollywood in Los Angeles, and the Ft.Lauderdale/Miami area... Outside of these areas and liberal college environments, gay couples are probably not as visible...