i see two solutions to the issue ... either would be fine with me.
A) recognize that marriage is both a religious and civil institution. from the religious perspective each religion should be able to believe whatever they want. from the civil perceptive all of our citizens are given the right to be treated as equals. therefore write a law that guarantees religious institutes the ability to refuse to acknowledge or perform gay marriage if that is their wish but also guarantees gay couples to be recognized as marriage by the laws of the USA (or where ever you live)
B) recognize that marriage is fundamentally a religious institution not a civil institution. as such, all laws concerning marriage would be stricken from the books under separation of church and state.
the "civil union" bullshit as an alternative to marriage is complete crap. "separate but equal" was a terrible idea with respect to people of different race and it is a terrible idea with respect to homosexuality as well.
