i think there's a big difference between marriage and civil union.... to be married is to ceremonially and unconditionally share in and express love for another person, and the other person for them.... plenty of gay couples in love were having 'weddings' and living 'married life' before same-sex civil unions came to be.... adding the civil aspect to same-sex marriage simply imposes certain rights and benefits to said couples so that in the event of an emergency or civil matter, spouses can be recognized as next of kin, have power of attorney, or be able to fairly distribute wealth and equity.... interesting still is the fact that many couples (especially those who get married multiple times) have their union ceremonies in front of a justice of the peace and don't perform formal weddings at all.... my dad for instance was married 3 times in his lifetime but only had one formal wedding ceremony.... i can definitely agree though that there are many couples (gay and straight) who get married as a business arrangement, and when one looks in to it historically, that's been going on for centuries.... wealthy families and aristocracy will often unionize members as a merger of sorts, which in turnh creates quite the dynasty.... and trust me: love had NOTHING to do with it.... while it's all seemingly a clusterfuck, people are going to do what they're going to do, and they won't know that until it happens....
to the OP: i hope that puts a little perspective on your question....