marriage equality

I fail to understand why Christians simultaneously decry the "ills" of the gay community yet oppose any state recognition of same-sex relationships. Most criticism of the "gay lifestyle" consists of finding the most outrageous statistics possible and inferring such action onto the whole gay community.

Example: Gay people have 400k% as much sex (almost all of it unprotected) as straight people. They all have AIDS, use drugs, and engage in rampant BDSM sexual practices. HEAD FOR THE HILLS! Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband, cause they're rapin' everybody out there.

When really, this example comes from a survey where the surveyors went to Badlands (gay club) in San Francisco, and asked only young males aged 18-24 about their sexual practices. There are any number of problems with this:

• The poor lesbians are entirely left out
• The older (or younger) gay men are entirely left out
• If you're not into clubbing, you're left out
• Self-reporting is problematic; many gay men like to brag about their sexual prowess
• If you don't live in San Francisco, where many gays go to seek refuge from their conservative upbringings and consequently may be somewhat wilder, you're left out

If marriage is such a great institution, why not allow or even encourage it in a community that lacks any institutions that assist with stabilizing relationships. It seems intuitively true that gay relationships are typically more fluid and less-long lasting -- though I'd be open to evidence to the contrary. But when you can check out of a long-term relationship without the hassle and social stigma of divorce, why would we expect any different? What sort of end status do gay couples have to aspire to?

If marriage is so great, then it seems like all the more reason to make it equally available to same-sex couples. And because of its great benefit, the constitutional argument for equality is even stronger.