The hysteria over gay marriage becoming an issue in the 2004 election really needs to come to an end. There's a simple response to any protestations. It's called the Constitution.
Specifically,
Amendment XIV
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
And if there's anyone pushing the civil union solution as an alternative, let's remember the lesson of the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education case: segregation, "separate but equal" is unconstitutional.
So let's stop persecuting people for how they choose to express their love. We got rid of racial segregation years ago. Sexual segregation has no place in the 21st century.