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"For supporters of gay marriage, it means avoiding the possibility that friends who are homosexual will never achieve marriage status, and for those on the other side of the debate, it means the religious communities they belong to won't be forced to comply with a state mandate with which they disagree."
The latter part of this statement merely legitimizes the misleading fear-mongering that the anti-gay-marriage forces have put forth.
No church in this country has ever been forced to perform a marriage ceremony against its dogma. And none ever will. It would be a violation of the first amendment. We have plenty of precedent to demonstrate that.
Catholic churches have never been forced to perform ceremonies for couples in which one or both parties are divorced, even though those marriages are legal in the U.S.
No church was ever forced to perform marriages for interracial couples, even after Loving vs. Virginia.
Churches have been able to put any restrictions on marriages they perform as they want. If a church says that the couple must have pre-marital counseling, or not live together, or whatever, the law has never said otherwise. The couple can get legally married; they can't legally force the church to marry them.
The claim that "if gays can get married, then our church will be forced to marry them" is simply a lie used to scare people about gay marriage and legitimize denying gay couples equal rights under the law. I always thought lying was a sin, but apparently the anti-equality folks have made an exception.
