Gay marriage: not a big deal

In recent years, one of the most discussed political issues has been the issue of gay marriage. But all of the attention the issue has been getting may not be deserved.
It's understandable that people would have such strong opinions on an issue when equal rights, deep religions views and gay panic all come into play, but there's another reason so many focus on this issue: it takes almost no research to have an opinion about it.
People can easily say they support a candidate because of his opinion on gay marriage, where finding out which candidate has the best plan for healthcare takes significantly more work. However, the issue of gay marriage should never be the deciding factor when someone goes to the polls.
The truth is, gay marriage affects a very small number of people. Liberal estimates of the number of gay individuals in the population say 10%, but this includes bisexual and transgender people who could easily marry someone of the opposite sex, as well as gay people who sill simply never choose to marry.
Within the population of gay, committed individuals, the legalization of marriage would affect adoption of children, taxes and properties. But not all couples will be affected by these changes as much as they would be affected by security, economic, foreign and environmental issues.
Another reason that gay marriage shouldn't be a deciding issue in an election is that it's unlikely that any elected official will be able to affect it directly.
As of now, states are allowed to choose whether or not they recognize gay marriage. The issue is whether states that don't allow gay marriage have to honor the legal rights of couples who were married in states where it's legal. Because of this, the issue of gay marriage will almost undoubtedly be settled in the Supreme Court. So, while presidential and legislative candidates could contribute to a result by choosing like-minded judges, campaign promises of being for or against gay marriage don't hold very much weight.
In general, focusing on issues that involve more passion than reason can take focus away from the bigger picture. No matter how strongly someone believes in the sanctity of marriage or in an individual's right to marry who they choose, they owe it to themselves to look beyond this issue, even if it does get more press than others.