Marriage laws allow for the understanding of the married couple as full adults in our culture. Couples married by a state government are automatically granted a broad range of rights at the federal level. These rights affect federal employees such as civil servants and the military. For the purposes of nearly all of the above items, same-sex couples are considered legal strangers, and thereby unable to be covered by them. Ceremonial marriage may be officiated by church officials, or anyone you choose.
Many churches marry same-sex couples.
Church officials are vested to oversee signing of legal marriage documents, but they have no control over their legal content. Ceremonial marriages in and of themselves involve no civil laws and carry no legal benefits or responsibilities. This has sometimes been applied to same-sex couples. It could also be easily eliminated through future state laws. The few benefits offered with a domestic partnership registration are no substitute for the numerous rights and responsibilities of legal marriage.