William Saletan discusses an analogy: That denying people of the same sex the right to marry is bigotry on the same level as denying people of different races the right to marry once was. Some time ago here, I think I said that though I was firmly against both forms of discrimination, I didn't think the two situations were precisely the same. Later though, I got to thinking what the distinction might be…and I couldn't come up with much of anything; not if you leave some interpretation of some passages in The Bible out of the discussion. And in a country with separation of church and state, you should.
Saletan actually comes up with a logical one…
From the perspective of a would-be spouse, being denied the right to same-sex marriage can be, in some ways, worse [than being denied the right to marry someone of another race]. If you're attracted to someone of another race, and the law won't let you marry anyone of that race, you can find someone of your own race to marry. You shouldn't have to do that, but you can. But if you're exclusively attracted to people of your own sex, and the law forbids you to marry such a person, then everything conservatives praise about marriage — the sharing, the happiness, the fulfillment, the solemnity, the respect — is denied to you.
He's right…but the public debate about this has never been moved much by logic. It's an emotional issue and most folks' logical arguments flow from their emotional response to the question. Actually, to me, a lot of it lately sounds like the folks still opposing Gay Marriage are down to fighting it because they just plain don't want to lose a battle, no matter what it's about. They'd better get used to it.