HOW IMPORTANT IS GAY MARRIAGE?

The title of this post isn't because I'm flippant about the subject, I think that it is somewhat important. I guess that I've moved away from gay marriage and to topics that are more immediate for me, like poverty, health care, and environmentally responsible consumerism.

California ruled it's unconstitutional to deny marriage to gays and lesbians, especially since the state already recognizes civil unions and domestic-partnerships, and that makes sense when compared to constitutionality. If you recognize something as valued, stable and lawful, how can you keep it from just being the same thing and allow gays to marry.

For some it seems a consuming issue, I guess, but when I look at the faces of the people trying to get married I don't see activists, I see a lot of middle to upper-middle class mostly white people, not hippies or people who truly push social boundaries. I think what I really come away from the ruling with is that the dialog has at least been moved away from the crazy conservative place it has been in since Bush took office and before.