While I may have been slow to embrace it, I now have no doubt that gay and lesbian marriages should be fully accorded the blessings of both the church and the state. Some people are concerned that same-sex marriages would irrevocably erode the concept of the family. The underlying notion seems to be that the family is an eternal construct instituted once and for all by God. The reality, however, is that the customs and laws governing marriage, and the configurations of individuals constituting families, have long been changing. We no longer live in an Ozzie and Harriet world, if we ever did.
Some people object to gay marriages on religious grounds.
Most churches are, indeed, a long way from recognizing same-sex marriages. Many of them don't even recognize the equality of women, after all. But having the state recognize same-sex marriages in no way obligates any church to perform such marriages or to change any church doctrine. With our time-honored separation of church and state, the state does not, and should not, dictate which marriages any particular religion should perform or recognize, just as no particular religion should dictate which couples will get, and should get, civil marriage licenses from the state. It is time to legalize gay and lesbian marriages.