First, my name is not Mary, so don't relegate me to being a "woman", unless that is how you perceive the entire homosexual community, which, if so, says alot about who you are. Secondly, I will agree that the U.S. may not be the most welcoming country for the gay community, but I have several friends who visit me from other countries who have never had problems entering the U.S. or have been openly discriminated against because they are gay. Many of them have visited Islamic countries as "closeted" homosexuals for the same fears which are held by the indigent gay populations in those countries.