With thanks to Waldo, this is the map of Europe with recognized gay marriage in green and civil unions (or their equivalent) in red:
In which we travel into interesting waters . . . (for a fairly long trip, so be prepared) Dr. King's 1968 book, Where do we go from here: chaos or community? , is profound in that it criticizes anti-poverty programs for their piecemeal approach, as John Schlosberg of the Center for a Stateless Society [C4SS] observes: King noted that the antipoverty programs of the time “proceeded from a premise that poverty is a consequence of multiple evils,” with separate programs each dedicated to individual issues such as education and housing. Though in his view “none of these remedies in itself is unsound,” they “all have a fatal disadvantage” of being “piecemeal,” with their implementation having “fluctuated at the whims of legislative bodies” or been “entangled in bureaucratic stalling.” The result is that “fragmentary and spasmodic reforms have failed to reach down to the profoundest needs of the poor.” Such single-issue approaches also have “another common failing — ...
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Let's take it a step further; in most European Countries in order to marry ones "contract" is solely the purview of the state--a wedding in a church is merely a choice and individual makes. The clergy are not authorized to wed a couple for the State.
Our nation, which claims to have separation of church and state has given the clergy a role in officiating in the execution of a legal contract between a couple. If we want true separation of church and state; we would adopt something similar to the European system. At that point any objections to gay marriage by religious groups while mildly distressing would not be germane.
Hank