Yet they would turn around and deny those same perks to gay people. Closet marriages go beyond perk, into prevarication. We have even pumped out children to be cannon fodder for feudalism. Indeed, the gay community's love of drag and theater may be instilled in them by long centuries of performing with that sword held to their throat. Interestingly enough, homosexuals don't monopolize the closet.
Marriage is a good place for certain straights to hide too.
Like the prostitute with heart of gold who hides her past by marrying Mr. Respectable with heart of gold. Or the straight military man who grudgingly marries to advance his career, because the brass don't like to promote bachelors to admiral. It's social silly-putty, squished into a thousand shapes by bias and blind belief. To the American colonists, a woman could work her way into marriage through contract labor or being an indentured servant. To Southern slaveowners, marriage was out of bounds for black people.