The Gay Marriage Debate-- And Why It's Stupid

This is a subject I've been hovering over for a while.  It's really hard for me to understand this being a serious political topic.  First off, I do understand people being anti-gay marriage; it's a religious issue for the most part.  Keep in mind I'm only speaking in generalizations here, I do also understand that for some people it's considered a "moral" issue.  Let's investigate a scenario...say Moon people came and populated the United States.  Approximately 9 Moon people to every Earth person.  These particular Moon people are very religious, but in their religion, ONLY Moon people can get married.  They feel that it's an abomination against God for Earth people to pretend they're married when only the chosen have this right.  What do they do?  Start making legislation outlawing all Earth marriage.  Would this stop Earth marriage from happening?  Of course not.  The only thing it would do would be to keep legal benefits away from "married" Earthlings.  This is EXACTLY what's happening in most of the U.S. today.  There are a LOT of gay married couples in my home state, Texas.  They have kids, they have homes, they have jobs.  Pretty typical American lives.  The only difference is they don't enjoy the benefits of the legal system for married couples.  Essentially whatever religious or moral dilemma a person has with this topic is in vein.  The awesome thing about America is NOBODY can stop you from being who/what you want to be except yourself.  If you want to be married to a same sex partner, you can be.  Legal recognition is only a formality.  I might be biased because I'm gay, but honestly I don't think it's right to deny legal rights to any consenting adults. Period.  Laws are supposed to protect us, not run our lives.  Something has gotten seriously skewed in the pipeline when a majority can prevent a minority equal rights in this country.  Like I said at the beginning, I completely understand a person being anti-gay marriage.  What I do not understand is why they can make laws based on this position.