| This issue is all about the money.
Married (in the eyes of the "law") couples currently receive federal tax benefits, among other things. Homosexuals see this and want to be legally married too, in order to reap the benefits. Plus, some of them may feel that they inherently deserve the benefits purely by "virtue" of being homosexual.
It seems to be true that most homosexuals would not wish to get married, ceteris paribus. After all, since they are excluded from the three major religions of the world, it is natural to expect that many (if not most) of them are rather hostile towards the traditions embraced by those religions. One of the foremost of these traditions is marriage. So why would homosexuals want to embrace a pinnacle of the religions that disdain them unless there was a good reason to do so? Apparently, tax breaks and other benefits provide the motivation here.
In my opinion, those of the State should consider marriage to be outside of their jurisdiction. The reason why marriage has become politicized in the first place is because of the problem of handling the married couple's property. If the State were not the sole arbiter of property disputes, there would be no issue here, and marriage could be safely outside of the State's influence. Then it would not matter whether anyone wanted to wed homosexuals.
- Rob |