Basic rights

The right to say what you wish is a basic right. It's in the First Amendment to the Constitution. But it's not an unrestricted right. You don't have the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, to use a well known example.

Gays insist that the right to marry is a basic right. It isn't in the Constitution or any amendment but let's assume for a moment that it is a basic right. Does that mean that it can't be restricted in any way? If it's anything like the right to free speech then it must be subject to some restrictions.

What kind of restrictions might be appropriate for a right to marry? Let's try a few. Let's say you're not free to marry a child, say an 18 month old baby. Surely, no one would object to such a restriction. So let's put a minimum age on the right to marry. Let's say no one under age 18 may marry.

If you can swallow that one, let's try another. Let's say you can only marry one person at a time and you can't already be married. Is that too restrictive?

No? Then let's say you can't marry a close relative, like a brother or sister. Let's set the limit at second cousin. Let's say you can marry anyone more distant than second cousin. Is that OK?

Now let's say you can't marry anyone of the same sex. You can marry anyone of the opposite sex who's 18 or over and isn't a close relative but you can only marry one and you can't be married at the time. Have you been denied a basic right?

Gays would say you have been but why is the same-sex restriction a denial of a basic right but the other restrictions are not? Gays have offered no answer. They just repeat the same unconvincing argument over and over, louder and louder. If you don't agree they try to intimidate you and call you intolerant, a bigot, hysterical and homophobic.