Gay Rights as Civil Rights

The Gay rights movement has been battling state laws trying to legalize same sex marriage across the country. The Gay marriage movement took a set back on November 4th after Maine voters approved the repeal of same sex marriage. In my opinion gay marriage should be a choice that these same sex couples should have, so they can receive medical, tax and family benefits. The arguments opposing gay marriage are primarily based on religion, and that should not govern the rights of US citizens. Gay marriage is one of the many issues that the United States has dealt with facing equal rights. This relates to the civil rights movement, during that time African Americans were fighting for equal rights, which is the same thing the gay community is currently doing. Over a long hard fight African Americans finally received equal rights as the whites and were no longer discriminated against. I think eventually the same thing will come from gay marriage but it will be a long bumpy road for these prejudices to be removed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/us/politics/05maine.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=gay%20marriage&st=cse