When I was abroad at Utrecht University in amsterdam they explained to us that the situation there was very different. mind you, this was years ago, so i may not have it remembered 100%:
in Europe it seems that 'marriage' really is a religous term. if you get 'married' in a church, you do not get any state benefits, it is just a religous thing. In order to get any of the benefits you need to go to a court and get the equivalent of a civil union.
I actually like this system very much, and I think it makes everyone happy. if some bigoted church decides that they don't like gay people- that's fine- they don't have to perform the ceremony. However, their actual marriage ceremony would mean nothing in the eyes of the state, and the gay couple could go and find a better, more accepting church to tie the knot in.
However, it is not like this in america.
CW, while your argument might fit into the European system, it does not fit into the american system at all.
Marriage is both a civil and a religous contract here. As long as it stays that way the only real way to have equality is gay marriage- not just gay civil unions.
on a happier note, even though america doesn't accept gay marriage, it seems that Disney does:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02286.htmlIt's a start, right?