Citizenship & Special Rights
At the core of the "argument" is a simple fact. Citizenship (and all it entitles one to) should be just the fact that one is born here, or has been naturalized.
All these people should have the SAME rights..
No "extra" rights conveyed if you believe in a religious philosophy.
Marriage has been morphed into something that is wrapped in special legal rights, and as a sacrament in a religious context, is now also a "secular sacrament" that gives special tax benefits, special inheritance benefits, etc.
If we had a truly fair taxation system, where everyone paid according to their wealth (not just paychecks), and where anyone could designate anyone else to share whatever benefits they had, through work or life circumstance, so much of the drama we go through every 2 years could be eliminated.
There should just be a legal contract drawn up between two people, that designates them as a "couple", and that should suffice.
If they ALSO want the "blessing" of their faith, that should be up to them, and should have no special benefits conveyed with it, and it should be the business of NO ONE ELSE.
The right climbs up on the Bible, and demonizes all but their own belief system when it comes to marriage, but it also has a monetary basis as well.. When single gay people cannot marry, they die as single people whose pensions & SS cannot be conveyed as a survivor benefit...and when they cannot claim their S.O. as a dependent, they get taxed at a higher rate than a legitimately married couple.
Marriage needs to be redefined as a legal partnership, and just be done with the whole thing.
Marriage originated as a way to "own" a woman, and her progeny,to unite disparate "clans", and as a way to keep track of whose family lineage had the right to inherit.