

Ask HN: Should marriage be a human right? - WoodenChair

Locke, Paine, and other enlightenment thinkers believed that human rights belong to individuals. A marriage is a union between two people. It&#x27;s not something that every individual can participate in because not every individual has someone willing to marry him&#x2F;her. Some may say that having someone who loves you enough to want to be tied to you is a privilege, not a right. Should marriage really be a rights issue, or should it be a privileges issue? Is this just semantics?
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InvictusTheGod
No.

A "right" is a legal claim against someone. You have no right to someone else,
just yourself. Other than that its contractual and does not require a state
body to sanction said contract.

So, no.

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Im_Talking
Don't agree. A 'right' is more basic than that. A 'right' is a fundamental
activity that everyone can do unless it affects other people's rights. The old
saying "My right to swing my arms ends at your face" is the perfect
description. I have the right to drink 2 bottles of whiskey as long as I don't
infringe upon other people's rights of security, safety, etc. I have the right
(in a perfect world) to smoke cannabis on my back porch as long as other
people's rights are not violated (right to clean air, etc). And 'rights' are
not allowed or given... they are fundamental; ie, there has to be very
rational reasons to disallow a 'right' (hear that, Harry Aslinger?)

... and getting back to the OP. Anyone is free to love and co-inhabit anyone
else. It is a right. A privilege is given, rights are fundamental.

