Is Marriage a 'right'?

[tymejumper]

I had an interesting Facebook post from a friend that has many gay family members. I posted about my marriage 'right' and how it was being discriminated against because I am not allowed to legally wed. He insists that it is not a 'right' because the government would have to mandate it and make sure he recieved this 'right' if he wanted to get married. Even if no one would want to marry him, the government would then have to find a person for him to marry(or force someone), if it was indeed his right to get married. So, basically it all comes down to he does not have that right either.

What is your feelings on this? My feelings are that there are many rights our there, such as the right to bear arms ,that you just don't automatically get, especially if you are a felon. There are rules and regulations for every right you recieve. I hold the principle that because we are being taxed and don't have many out congress members or senators, we are also being faced with taxation without representation. I also call discrimination because we are following the rules to get the right to marry, such as finding someone to marry us , (a SO)and being willing to fill out the paperwork .

Thought this would be an interesting debate to engage in.

[keltic63]

I have a "right" to a fair trial, but ONLY if I've been charged with a crime....

so, in the same way, I have a "right" to get married, but only if I find someone who will enter that legal and CIVIL contract with me! AND I have found someone who was willing to do just that. So now that I am enjoying this right (if only in a few states that recognize my marriage) I am no longer entitled to marriage rights unless I go through certain legal processes (divorce).

We all enjoy the same rights, but we don't exercise all of those rights, and some of us don't even have the ability or capacity to do so.

I enjoy having the right to carry firearms, but I have chosen not to use that right. I don't own a gun, but I believe that as a citizen in this country, I should have that right.

rights are not mandated, they are offered for those who wish to partake, and are in place to protect all citizens from certain unreasonable government interference.

[tymejumper]

that is pretty much what I stated also.

Apparently, he just didn't get how I linked the 'right' to pay taxes to the 'right' to marriage. As my Mother pointed out, the government does mandate it. They hand out the licence, they adjust the tax base to make up for you being married, they don't let you go around marrying more than one person. I see his point as well, pointless.

Then I opend a can of worms when I sugessted that the country was not set up on his Christain principals. lOL

[antiochian]

I've heard the arguments from homophobes that we do, indeed have the same rights as straights: the "right" the marry someone of the opposite sex. So why are we complaining?

A drunk heterosexual couple has the right to get married at a thirty-minute service in a Las Vegas chapel with an Elvis look-alike minister officiating one hour after they met in a casino, and Billy Bob has the right to marry another woman after three divorces. Yes, I have the RIGHT to marry the man I love, and to have that partnership legally recognized, and to receive the same benefits the drunk couple and Billy Bob and wife #4 enjoy.

[RedneckDyke]

He's saying if we have the right to get married and we can't find someone to marry us then the government has to find someone for us to marry? Does the government find lonely straight people marriage partners?
We have the right to bear arms in this country. Is the government going to give me a tax voucher so I can buy a nice new pistol?

[tymejumper]

Yeah I pointed that out and he didnt get it. Well, you read it, so you know. The main thing I have to point out to him is that the Government only makes sure you are allowed to take advantage of your rights, not that you actually use them. That is up to you to make sure you use them.