Miscellaneous Musing #48

In a public-opinion survey taken several years ago, approximately 44 percent of Usans (see the list of domanisms) aged 21 to 65 (years, not months, despite the immaturity of their response) replied that they consider marriage unnecessary for a "loving relationship".  I disagree with them, of course, but the poll result raises a rhetorical question: If a growing portion of the populace considers marriage in general to be unimportant, why is same-sex marriage increasingly regarded as vital?