[JustMe_T3K]

First cousins can't get married in Nebraska either.
Maybe you should have them join your cause.

Marriage is still not a civil right.

[SurfOmaha]

Originally Posted by JustMe_T3K

First cousins can't get married in Nebraska either.
Maybe you should have them join your cause.

Marriage is still not a civil right.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Marriage is such a powerful, inalienable civil right that even prisoners can not be refused the right to marry!

[JustMe_T3K]

Originally Posted by SurfOmaha

The Supreme Court has ruled that Marriage is such a powerful, inalienable civil right that even prisoners can not be refused the right to marry!

Do you have a source for that?

And what about the mistreated kissing cousins?

[mattpoulsen]

Yes, marriage has been ruled to be a fundamental right. However, that doesn't mean its not regulated and limited.

I support gay marriage, but the Supreme Court has NOT ruled on that issue.

There are two ways of looking at it:

1) The fundamental right to marry means marrying who you want of the opposite sex. Under this interpretations, gays do have the right to marry, just not members of the same sex, so their fundamental right is not being infringed upon.

2) The fundamental right to marry means marrying who you want, regardless of sex.

There is a lot of doctrinal Constitutional law implicated in the analysis of this question. Its not simple and shouldn't be treated as though "its obvious" from a legal perspective. Both extremes that do treat it as a simple legal question are simply uninformed.

[JustMe_T3K]

I am still looking for a source that says marriage is a "civil" right.

[mattpoulsen]

There is no "source," per se. Rather there are a series of supreme court rulings that over turn various state regulations that restrict marriage. In so doing, the court has consistently ruled that marriage is a fundamental right. That said, fundamental rights can be restricted, and in terms of gay marriage, the supreme court has not ruled. It is worth noting, your right to privacy, your personal right to bear arms, your right to have children, your right to live where you choose, your right travel, and many others are all rights that are determined in the same way. These rights aren't explicitly enumerated in the Constitution. Rather, the court must determine whether these rights are implicit in the text of the constitution. Eventually, they will be forced to make the same decision in regard to gay marriage.

Here are some opinions ruling, in part, that marriage is a fundamental right:

Loving v. Virginia - court ruled that a Virginia miscegenation law violated the plaintiff's fundamental right to marry.

Zablocki v. Wisconsin - court ruled that overly burdensome marriage requirements (requiring men who have child support orders to get permission to enter into a 2nd marriage) was a violation of the plaintiff's fundamental right to marry.

Turner v. Safley - court ruled that a regulation against prisoner marriage was unconstitutional.

These are just a few, there are many more. The point is the Supreme Court has time and time again ruled that marriage IS a fundamental right, there is really no disputing that. The dispute is whether the SC will conclude marrying someone of the same sex is a fundamental right. That one is clearly up in the air. However, many state supreme courts are beginning to hold just that way.