Homosexuality… how accepted is it?

I observed an interesting point this weekend regarding homosexuality and its progression in 2006. While it has come some way in this century, it is still an extremely taboo and extremely controversial issue. It is surprising to me because I have always been around an accepting homosexual environment, so it really puzzles me that people can have such staunch un-accepting perspective towards it. The fact that it has played an important role in elections also highlights my point. In Texas, it was probably the main issue in the legislative government. In 2004, it was also probably one of the main platform topics. Everyday it also seems like another state is attempting to outlaw gay marriage in their constitution. Personally, my question is, how does a homosexual’s life really impact or involve opponents? How does it affect their lives negatively? If anything, homosexuals might get a few benefits if gay marriage were allowed; furthermore, heterosexual marriage has an extremely high divorce rate, so what is this paradox of gay marriage ruining heterosexual marriage? It is interesting to me that what seems like a trivial social issue to me, is more pressing in people’s lives in comparison to taxes, education, medical insurance, etc… If anyone has a response or opinion to any of my questions, I would love to hear your justifications, I want to understand the other side of the story better.