Equality before the law is a right. It is established in the constitution. For more, see the Michigan Marriage Amendment decision I've linked in several places in this thread; the judge explains things thoroughly and clearly. Many, myself included, view the legal enumerated rights as an expression of something deeper, but that's not universal.

We don't know what BE's point of view is, because he has refused to explain. But we certainly know what gay people believed, and what gay marriage proponents believed. And we know the effect of BE's actions on gay people which was to help keep them from their civil rights for a little while longer.