Gays mainly want dignity and respect

Prominent same-sex marriage advocate Dale Carpenter writes:

A legal reform that has given gay couples all of the rights and benefits of marriage under state law -- a change that would have been unthinkable a generation or two ago -- is now considered hurtful and degrading by the very people it benefits. ...

What I think this suggests is that for many gay couples the struggle for marriage is not only, or even primarily, a struggle for particular legal benefits. It is a struggle for equal dignity, recognition, legitimacy, and respect under the law. That is something only full marriage can provide because it is a relationship that families, friends, co-workers, and employers readily understand.

I think that he is correct. The fight for same-sex marriage has very little to do with legal rights and benefits. The real purpose is to force the public to respect homosexual lifestyles.