I mean, disregarding "love" and whatnot, at least in the US, there are lots of bureaucratic benefits to it.
I'm not religious or anything, so a wedding in itself doesn't mean a lot to me, but my wife and I got married in no small part so we could share health insurance, help with her immigration, and lower our tax burden. I don't regret the marriage, I trust my wife, and we've been pretty happy for the last eight years.
People forget all the reasons gay marriage had to be fought for; no matter how solid a relationship is, the external privileges of having that status recognized matter.
(Also, few of the posters in this subthread are looking at the woman's side of the game theory)
No, there are all sorts of very specific and sometimes tragic cases like "who is allowed at the bedside of their dying spouse in the hospital" where official recognition matters. The AIDS crisis produced a number of those incidents, but it's also happened to straight people as well that if you're not officially married you may find your partner's family having legal rights which you don't.
So, to sum it up, straight people marry so that one can not run away easily, and gay people marry for increased closeness? :-) In any case, this subthread was about the inequality between straight couples, so...
Well, as I am not married, this would also apply to my spouse and I. However, I dont feel like this is reason enough to marry, in fact, I never even thought about such a specific case. Death is painful, and likely will not go down as planned, so no reason to worry. See, not a gay marriage specific problem, just the way it is for unmarried couples.
Where I come from, public health insurance is a given, so no need to marry to obtain that basic "right". Marrying to fascilitate immigration is not unheard of, however, most cases I know are more about economic incentives then actual love. I can not speak about lowering tax burden, the system I am living in is apparently too different from yours.
I'm not religious or anything, so a wedding in itself doesn't mean a lot to me, but my wife and I got married in no small part so we could share health insurance, help with her immigration, and lower our tax burden. I don't regret the marriage, I trust my wife, and we've been pretty happy for the last eight years.