I have been living as an openly gay man for 30 years and am partnered to a very loving, committed, connected man. The primary reason I hear from my community in support of gay marriage is that by not being allowed to marry, we are not afforded the same perquisites as our legally-married counterparts, such as tax breaks and health care benefits. Until these financial perqs are decoupled from marital status, however, non-married people of any sexual orientation will continue to be second-class citizens. I think anyone should be allowed to be married if they want to be married. But I don't think people should be financially incented by our government to get married. Our country has no vested interest in people being married, so why should we be paying people to get married? How about using that money to buy hungry people some food?