> There is genuine work to be done reconciling gay marriage with the first amendment...

Why? Catholics (as an example) don't perform or internally honor Jewish (as an example) weddings, either, without it being any sort of First Amendment issue.

No, he means your freedom to marry whom you choose infringes upon his belief that marriage is between one man and one woman. American evangelicals were instrumental in spreading their hatred of homosexuality in Africa and helped create laws allowing the murder of men accused of homosexuality, this was less than a decade ago. Those people are still very much alive and active within the conservative world, they haven’t become more accepting.

First Amendment protects you from government. Catholics are not the government.

That’s why Catholic discussion of Jewish marriages is not a First Amendment issue, while Supreme Court Justice Alito advocating against gay marriage is.

> First Amendment protects you from government. Catholics are not the government.

Right. That's my point; there's no need to reconcile the First Amendment with permitting gay marriage. There's nothing to reconcile.

The common "allowing gay marriage is an infringement of religious freedom" argument is bunk for that reason.

My apologies, I misunderstood what point you were trying to make. I agree with you entirely.

Not at all. Allowing gay marriage doesn't prohibit your free exercise of religion. Don't approve of or believe in gay marriage? Don't marry someone of the same sex.

No religion has the right to demand of others that they respect its belief.

"You cannot, because my religion disapproves" is the religious first amendment version of "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins".

Hogwash. No religion is forced to perform marriages they don’t believe in.

This isn't my field, but afaik marriage is entirely a question of "registering with the state". Everything else is some sort of party or tribal celebration.

From a legal point of view, yes. From a social point of view, no – but that's not what people argue about.