Who is the state to think they can dictate who can and who can’t get married? I would think that would (and SHOULD) be up to individual churches or religions. The Catholic church won’t (or it didn’t used to) marry a mixed-religion couple. Both people had to be Catholic.
I would say – let each religion and church decide for themselves if they can tolerate homosexual marriage.
Then also let each couple – het, bi, straight, – go to the city courthouse and sign some form of domestic partnership papers. Then, whether or not a couple is married “in the sigh of the church”, they can still be married “by law”, and deal with all the pros and cons of that.
But – to have the government say “No, you can’t get married” is like having them say “No, you can’t get baptized. You, over there, you can’t convert to another religion.” Marriage itself is a religious thing. The government’s recognition of a couple SHOULD NOT be tied to a religious ceremony.
Imagine the government saying “You. You’ve been baptized a Christian. You can own a house. You can take out a loan. You can have a tax break.” Think that would fly? OH HELL NO!
That’s what they are saying. “You. You and your sweetheart have been together for years, but WE refuse to recognize you. If your sweetheart financially supports you, she can’t claim you (like a het couple can do, when one stays home to raise kids). Only SOME of the jobs out there will let you claim your sweetie, so you both can have health insurance.”
However, any man and any woman can get married “just for fun”. They can divorce a day later.
Who exactly are they protecting? Do “they” just think gay couples are too “icky” to deserve marriage? Are their own partnerships so fragile that if I get that tax break, or if she wears that ring, that suddenly they will be forced to fall apart?