ake says he will not be back to this... but if he is reading, I will repeat what I said above.

"It makes no difference whether 'marriage' was usually between a man and a woman. That is not a 'definition', no matter what conservatives would like it to be!"

again... the idea of 'redefining' is rhetoric to pretend there ever was a formal definition. It was commonly assumed that it meant man & woman, but that is not the point.
The point is: part of the human race IS gay, and not the 'tiny minority' that Ake suggests. They form bonds and live in situations almost identical to straight couple. They need the same legal rights as anyone else, for insurance, inheritance, taxes, buying a house, etc...etc. The 'state' controls the legal details of those issues, so what else should it be called to formalize the situation? 'Marriage' simply recognizes the partners' commitment, whether there is a religious component or not.
   NOTHING about it interferes with straight couples living their lives in their way!

It is just a matter of fairness and common sense.