Although the issue is controversial, it's a sign that the state is civilized and considerate, understanding that people should be allowed to love each other whatever their sexual orientation.
I stopped having a problem with so-called "gay marriage" here in NY when I realized that all non-religious weddings are actually just "civil unions" and nothing more.
That being said, how, exactly does the legal status of so-called "gay marriage" who or what a person chooses to love. That most recent episode of "Taboo" on National Geographic featured a guy who makes love to his VW bug. Last I heard, the FBI was not (repeat, NOT) on his case.
I stopped having a problem with so-called "gay marriage" here in NY when I realized that all non-religious weddings are actually just "civil unions" and nothing more. This is a very important point. In my own (Catholic) Church it is possible to be "civilly" married but not considered married by the Church. In fact, it is quite common.
Throughout Western history "church" marriage and "civil" marriage were either legally the same, or so closely equivalent that most people THOUGHT that they were legally the same. Many still hold this to be true but in fact it is not.
So that a considerable amount of energy is spent on protecting "civil" marriage from incompatibility with "church" marriage. I'm not saying this is a bad thing necessarily, it may in fact be a good thing.
But the larger point, I think, is that "civil" society in general is accelerating away from "church" society at a very rapid rate and has been for some time. Marriage is just the latest symptom of this separation. Abortion, common public indecency, public homosexuality were yesterday's battlefields.
My own take is that we are approaching a new phase of history in the West, in which Christianity, once the very essence of commonly held values in the dominant culture, is increasingly alien to it. This is akin to the place of Christianity in the pre-Christian Roman Empire.
I am thinking that neither we Christians, nor society in general, will much like what results from this separation.
My husband feels the same way you do. But, my argument is that the push for legalizing gay marriage has nothing to do with rights or marriage. It is an attempt to legitimize homosexuality. If gay unions are sanctioned by the government, there is the basis to prevent discrimination against homosexuality when it comes to things such as....your public school receives federal funds...so homosexuality must have equal representation in sex ed and health programs. It’s an attempt to lessen people’s aversion to it thru mainstreaming, pure and simple. That is why I vehemently oppose it.