] To the outside world, Zanzibar is a laid-back tourist's
] paradise but in recent months, Islamic groups have
] spearheaded a campaign to cleanse the island of
] "corrupting" practices such as homosexuality and alcohol.
]
] In August, the government of the semi-autonomous island
] archipelago that forms part of Tanzania, outlawed gay sex
] and set prison terms of up to 25 years for men and seven
] years for lesbians.

Well first, I'm appalled. But second, this makes me think about an interesting side question related to the gay marriage issue in the U.S. If we did legalize gay marriage, would that make the Islamic fundamentalists hate us more? Or what about other "regular" countries that weren't Islamic, but did have more conservative social views... Would it make them have a lower opinion of the U.S.? And how much should that factor into our decision?

It seemed that during our election season, there were a lot of Americans (especially liberals) calling for us to make decisions in order to have the respect of other countries. Should our stand on gay marriage be considered in the same light, in terms of how other countries perceive us?

Secrecy, stones and insults: the gay life on Zanzibar