The Definition of Insanity

Everyone buckle up. I am going to discuss same-sex marriage today (or as I like to call it: EQUAL MARRIAGE). Try not to faint. I was reading this Op-Ed piece in the New York Times and it really put things into perspective for me.
The first sentence of the article reads: "In 1958, when my mother, who was white, and father, who was black, wanted to get married in Nebraska, it was illegal for them to wed."
Well, that sentence and the rest of the article effectively BLEW MY MIND. Apart from the KKK and a few other select groups (of assholes) like them, who wouldn't say, today, that the idea of making it illegal for a white woman to marry a black man is INSANE? RIDICULOUS! Having been born in 1974, I didn't even know that such laws had ever existed.
I am a huge proponent of Equal Rights. I do not now, nor will I ever, grasp how any group of Americans (let alone our Government) should think that they have the right to tell two individuals who love one another whether or not they can wed. Or how about adopting? What poor, mistreated, passed-around foster child would not jump at the opportunity to be adopted by a gay couple who could provide them with the love and stability that they so desperately need? But no. Our government would rather see these kids in orphanages or "puppy mill" foster homes. (I know a lot of good foster parents, but there are also a lot of bad).
And here's another thing that really gets my blood pumping: Most states make it illegal for a gay couple to be married, yet any straight person can trot off to Vegas with a buddy, get wasted on free booze while he/she is gambling and run off to the nearest drive thru chapel after having known someone for all of 30 minutes to get married. THEN, after they've sobered up, they can get an annulment and start all over. The goverment lets straight couples treat marriage like a damned joke, but will not let committed gay couples, who would truly value the union, even have a shot at ONE marriage.
It is outrageous. This is 2009. There are huge problems in this world. Serious problems. People starving and dying from preventable diseases or being killed by corrupt governments. People losing everything because they can't find employment, being shot down in gang wars.
Knowing all of this, if you can look me in the eye and tell me that gay marriage should be illegal, I would suggest you do it from a distance.
Now...how do I get down off this soapbox?