JudasIscariot: Speaking of Polish jokes, I had to endure quite a few of them myself...even AFTER I told people that I am from Poland. Let's just say I know all the usual Polish jokes by heart now and, yes, I did live for quite a long time in the South.

cogadh: As for "this is how the world sees America", The US is much more than just a parish in Louisiana, so if the world judges the entire country on the basis of the behavior of one man in one state the size of North Korea out of the over 300 million people in an entire country that is larger than all of Europe, then that is really their problem, not ours. If the world collectively pulled their heads out of their asses and stopped buying into all the national stereotypes, we'd all be much better off in the long run.

Navagon: But then the majority of Americans vote in favour of upholding the ban on gay marriage. So the "who even have to meddle in other people's marriages" part is certainly not without basis.

cogadh: The majority of Americans did not vote to uphold the ban on gay marriage as there has never been a national vote on the subject, nor is there a national ban on it. Any and all votes that have taken place are only at the local and state level and the majority of those votes have been heavily influenced by the "religious right" which are the majority in some certain areas, but not the nation as a whole.

cogadh: I would have to ask where in America did you move?

cogadh: Additionally, I would say that jokes and racism are really two different things. Comedy in the US has a long history of humor that hurts (...).

cogadh: I did say "the world collectively" and "all the national stereotypes", I though that pretty much implied that the US was included.

Darling_Jimmy: DOMA is at the federal level so there is, as you say, a national ban on same-sex marriage.
"The federal government defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman."

cogadh: The majority of Americans did not vote to uphold the ban on gay marriage as there has never been a national vote on the subject, nor is there a national ban on it. Any and all votes that have taken place are only at the local and state level and the majority of those votes have been heavily influenced by the "religious right" which are the majority in some certain areas, but not the nation as a whole.

Navagon: Yes, the religious right has a lot to do with it. But then they do still, on most levels, count as human beings with the right to vote.

Navagon: The majority of those who have had the chance to vote on it decided to vote against it. You say that gay marriage is not banned, yet it's not legal in the overwhelming majority of states. Forty six out of fifty, to be precise.
Given that America inherently adheres to the principal of the tyranny of the majority, I don't see how it's inappropriate to say that America is against gay marriage, when by your own country's standards that is the correct interpretation.
Yes, the religious right has a lot to do with it. But then they do still, on most levels, count as human beings with the right to vote.

Wishbone: Apparently, they even count as a majority with the right to vote, if they are to be blamed for the current state of American legislation.

cogadh: And that particular law, which again was not voted on by the American public, is in the process of being invalidated by the RFMA, which happens to be supported by the guy who sponsored DOMA. It is also important to note that DOMA did not make same-sex marriages illegal, it just defined marriage so that the federal government did not have to recognize same sex marriages and provide things like spousal benefits through Medicare and other government programs. The legality of same sex marriages is only determined at the state (and in some case the local) level.

cogadh: 6 states have specifically voted on gay marriage and passed it out of the 8 states that have even considered it (to date, there is a ninth pending this November). The remaining 42 states have never voted on gay marriage, but an additional 9 of them do allow same-sex civil unions. On top of that, several states that had gay marriage bans have been ruled unconstitutional, most notably Texas. Then you have states like California that, through the machinations of the Mormon Church, did ban marriages within California, but does recognize gay marriages performed outside of California as legal unions (also true of New York and Washington DC).
You make blanket statements about the country and the people as whole without really understanding the details of the situation. Yes, there are laws on the books that prevent gay marriages, but all of those laws are being challenged in more cases than not, they are being overturned, either by the vote of the people or by the ruling of the court. You assume that because there are laws that, by their letter, appear to ban gay marriage that we, for the most part, are against the subject, when in fact, most of these laws and state constitutions were written decades if not centuries before the idea of gay marriage even existed. They are not written to specifically ban gay marriage, they just weren't written to take into account gay marriage, hence why they are now being changed.
Yes, there will always be people here that are against things like gay marriage, just as there are in every country, but you cannot assume that just because some of us are like that, all of us or even most of us are like that.

Darling_Jimmy: You might not be aware that same-sex couples who are legally married in the US still have to file separate federal tax returns. That is because same-sex marriages are not recognized at the federal level. And don't forget about immigration. You can't sponsor your spouse for citizenship if that person is not recognized as your spouse. That is a federal issue and that is where the UAFA comes in (hopefully.) So it is not as simple as letting the states decide for themselves (as if that is simple.) DOMA does need to be invalidated. What the US really needs is a constitution to define and protect civil rights (that'll be the day.)