<p>"But then you have conservatives going around saying gay people are evil and, well, it's no wonder most students equate liberalism with tolerance and conservatism with...uh...scary evangelists. Obviously not all conservative people are like this"
You are making a lot of generalizations. I don't know any conservative people who think gay people are "evil". Obviously you're going to have nuts like Jerry Falwell, but that doesn't represent that majority of Republicans like you seem to assume. There are definitely a number of Republicans who are against gay marriage, but that doesn't mean they hate gay people. I think of these people would prefer civil unions, where gay people would legally have the same rights as a straight people. This solution seems fair and doesn't prevent gay people from benefiting financially the same way that married straight people do.</p>