[Hoot Gibson]

Certainly it does. It denies same sex couples the same legal marital rights and privileges that married people get. Stardust has already discussed some of these.

No, it does not. They are not members of a constitutional minority. They do not have civil rights above and beyond everybody else simply because of their lifestyle choices. There is nothing unconstitutional in the government recognizing marriage between one man and one woman. If government chooses, through the enactment of laws, to recognize marriage as being only between members of the same sex, there would likewise, be no denial of constitutional rights to heterosexual couples. This is not a constitutional issue. It is a legislative issue. No civil right is at stake.