mormons and gay marriage

This is just my opinion and like my wife has said I'm glad we are fortunate to live during a time when each of us is free to have our own opinions. Though we may not agree on some things, I hope we can all listen to one another, endeavor to understand each other's point of view, and ultimately show kindness. I mostly just want to clear a few things up so that I'm not misunderstood. 

I'll keep it simple. This is how I, and most of the mormons that I associate with, feel about the gay marriage issue. It's not a human rights issue to me. Jesus Christ is at the head of our church and we try to practice what his core message was--which is to love one another. I don't think you'll find an active member of our church (besides the nuts--which you can find in any church) who will say that they hate gay people or that they believe they don't deserve all the same rights as heterosexuals. Many of us have family members and friends that are gay and that we love. I believe that people who are attracted to the same sex deserve all the same rights as their heterosexual brothers and sisters. In fact, that's what this article (outlining the official position of the church) says too (click here to see the article).

The question is, is marriage a right? Historically, it has been a religious ritual (not a right). It's a union being recognized in the eyes of God. Somewhere along the way it became a way for the government to determine who is eligible for certain privileges or "rights". If I had it my way, I would keep a separation of church and state. Same sex couples (as well as all couples) could get a civil union that's recognized by the government as well as receive all the rights that come along with that (such as hospital visitation rights, tax benefits, etc), and then if they wanted their union to be recognized by God they could get married in whichever religion they wanted to.

So I hope it's clear that I agree that gay people deserve to have equal rights and that I have nothing against gay people, I simply have a belief that God does not approve of gay marriage, and that's my belief. I hope we can all be tolerant to each other and love one another.