macenroc, funny you should say that. I did wonder in the past, why on earth anyone would fight for marriage- it was certainly not on my agenda, as social justice for homosexuals- it felt a bit like women fighting for military involvement- one of the advantages of being a woman in the past was not being called up for military draft- why would women fight for the right to be shot at? But then, as way leads on to way, I started to view the institution of marriage as something worth fighting for. Call it a new personal conservatism, or just romance gone extreme, instead of viewing marriage as something quaint, but mostly doomed to failure, I now see it as desirable. Osmosis. As generations of gays have never been able to marry, there would likely be many long-term partnerships out there, just crying out to "have their day", and spend their life with that person they have been with for 20 or 40 years. Also, no shotgun marriages with gay weddings. No real social pressure to get married, have kids, and "be normal", like some straight people have had. Past straight generations have had so much pressure around marriage- getting in and staying in- it's an institution that has had lots of external pressure. Little wonder it has had mixed successes for the past few decades.
