In history, there have occasionally been issues that so polarized and divided the populace that a realignment of political parties happened. The biggest drawback I see from these examples is the level of animosity and the lack of respect for moderate voices. Extremists rule the day, and dialog, compromise, and reason are largely suppressed. The people tend to gravitate to the extremes rather than to the middle. People who were believed to be rational tend to act like irrational zealots.
It's possible that the same-gender marriage debate could be seen as such an issue. I see a lot of ultimatum grandstanding ("If you don't agree with me on this issue, then we can't be friends" type of arguments). People refuse to listen to one another, and just repeat their arguments over and over, as if that gave them more credence. There is a lot of name calling, "destroyers of family values" and "bigots" being the most common, and almost always misapplied. If you feel that either of these terms is actually accurate most of the time they are used, then I suggest that you may have fallen prey to extremist views.
My plea is to champion the rise of the centrist, the rational, the moderate. Let's try to be friends, even if we disagree. A good resolution might be more easy to reach from the center than from a fight between the extremes.
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