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.