Question of the Day: When did Gay Marriage become THE Battle of 2011?

Within the last week, there have been calls for President Obama to talk about Gay Marriage during the State of the Union. Kerry Eleveld and Dan Savage have already addressed the issue, but I'm not sure when marriage became the GAY BATTLE of 2011.

Don't get me wrong; I want gay marriage. Hell, I want both to be tackled this year. But if I had to choose, ENDA would be my battle. In fact, I'm confused with this sudden galactic push for gay marriage. Was there a poll? Where there a study done to determine what was next? I mean if we are not together on this, how far can we go? It feels like we are being pushed by self-appointed leaders. They may think this is cute, but in a lot ways, they are not being mindful of the real issues of the real world.

For many gays; jobs, health care, benefits and legal protections are top priorities. If you surveyed a majority of the gays, I'm quite sure the numbers will be mixed or closer to ENDA-like answers. I don't think the majority of us are screaming for this as much as Kerry or Dan. We want marriage, but we also want job security, benefits and employment projections. If Kerry and Dan don't see that or recognize that, it just sends the message that they are out of touch.