I'm curious why some gay rights activists push so adamantly for MARRIAGE. And either are reluctant or outright refuse to accept the civil unions option. As long as civil unions grant the same rights as a legal marriage, why does the name matter so much? It's largely a case of semantics. I know this argument cuts both ways, I'll respond for my viewpoint. As I've said before, marriage is more than a legal contract. If marriage was only a legal contract, then I'd have no problem redefining it as whatever. It's a cultural and relgious institution as well and I don't feel its the proper role of government to start redefining cultural and religious matters. If our culture wants to redefine marriage to include same sex couples, it will in its own time. Same for religious institutions, some have already accepted, some others may accept it in the future, and others probably never will.
My theory, and it could be totally off base since I'm not at all involved in the LGBT community, is that hard core activist for gay MARRIAGE want to use the government to redefine not only the legal construct, but the cultural one, in order to help push for increased acceptance and tolerance. But I think trying to force that kind of change, particularly through court rulings, will just create a backlash that slows down the movement towards increased acceptance and tolerance. Homosexuality has made huge stides towards being accepted by mainstream culture in the last twenty years. I think the biggest mistake the gay community could make right now is to over reach for things society isn't ready to accept, like calling a same sex couple a marriage. Most people are willing to compromise and accept civil unions, but they're not quite ready to apply the marriage tag. Its a step forward for the gay community and frankly I think they should embrace it.