Right to marriage?

There’s nothing in the Constitution or Bill of Rights that specifies the word marriage. It isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. Some focus on the 14th Amendment and the equal protection clause.

A person who cannot perform a required duty might be appropriately discriminated against in application for a job. I’ve experienced this. It’s a right unfairly denied only if there’s no reasonable explanation.

Society has a right to confer privileges upon a general class due to expected benefits to be received. Among those from marriage would be progenitors, who will provide a meaningful service and a product which supports the economy and a minimal expectation that a member won’t burden society or its members through theft, violence or excessively riotous lifestyle.

I will receive no marriage privilege if I attempt to marry while I already am. That’s bigamy or polygamy. The privilege may be withheld.

I’ve no privilege to marry a close relative: There are health issues at stake for pregnancies. My privilege might be properly denied.

I could bet someone $5 I still couldn’t marry an Arby’s goat. There’s no privilege for this.

Marriage isn’t a right for anyone. It’s a privilege like a drivers license. It can be denied.

The “right” of marriage is a myth. It’s a privilege, and deserves to be recognized as such. The media needs to get this right and quit misleading us.

David House
IU employee