Catholics believe that the bread and wine served up during mass are miraculously turned into the flesh and blood of Jesus. They also believe that Mary is the virgin mother of Jesus. These beliefs are central to the identity of being a Catholic. After the Thirty Year War between Catholics and Protestants over such differences, European governments came to the conclusion that it was much wiser to let individuals establish their faith-based identities privately, without state interference. Unfortunately, this conclusion did not extend to the ritual of matrimony.
Marriage is fundamentally a faith-based institution being encouraged and enforced by the state.
Vermont's civil unions legislation was the right target with the wrong approach. All this fuss about making civil unions appear like marriage is unseemly. Hate crime prevention laws are another flash point for activism. Here again, the symbolism of these laws far outweighs the benefits. Although, I believe the state has an obligation to include a sexual orientation category in existing laws, I am not naive enough to believe these will have any measurable impact on hate crimes.