I'm genuinely befuddled--what is the big deal with gay marriage?

I just do not get it.  In a country where half of marriages end in divorce (and the rate is higher among conservative Christians), I just do not understand why people are so up in arms about gay marriage.  The consequences for children, research suggests, are benign.  That's my experience, too.  When I know kids that have two moms, they generally work it out like "one is is mom and one is mommy.  problem solved".

And in terms of legal rights, it's appalling that basic civil rights are denied to gap couples.

And as for the church's involvement with marriage, that's something of the last couple of centuries.  For a long time in Europe, marriages were strictly a civil issue.  

My own preference would be to just separate the church ceremony from legal issues, and let those who believe have church weddings.  God, the number of people who don't give a crap about the Church who get married in church is a lot worse than having two devoted gap people who are devout married in the church building.  And don't get me started on the number of unmarried couples who get married in church.  I don't want to be a prude, but the Bible has a lot more to say about fornicating than gay issues, that's for sure.