Marriage: A right? Or a definition?

Is there a “right” to be married, or is the word “marriage” simply definition? Canada, as a nation, appears poised to adopt a new legal definition of marriage, on the basis of a philosophical argument than marriage is an inalienable human right.

If we say “for homosexuals to have equal rights, they must have the right to marry,” then we are automatically arguing that every human, presumably of the age of majority, has the innate human right to get married.

Fair enough. To test this moral argument, let’s push it to the limit. Let’s say I’m a homosexual man, and I love another man with whom I am (or intend to be) sexually intimate, and we wish to pledge a life long commitment to one another. So, we argue that it is our human right to get married, we start a publicity campaign, organize “pride” days, commit a series of acts of quiet persecution on any religious group that dares stand in our way, win over public opinion by any means possible, and get that legal right to be “married.” This is where Canada is today.

Fine, now let’s back up. Let’s say that I am a heterosexual woman, and I love two men equally, both of whom are of the age of majority, and who are themselves heterosexual, although they are good friends. They both want to marry me and have children by me, and don’t mind me not always being in the same bed.

Why cannot I argue that I have the inalienable human right to marry two men who both love me and wish to commit their life to me, and me to them in return? I can argue that my children and I are safer with two income earners supporting us, and that my children are more likely to have a positive paternal influence in their life, with two loving fathers instead of one.

Both situations use the same argument, that marriage is a human right, not a definition. If Canada continues to accept the former argument, then our collective path is likely to take us down the same route as the Netherlands, where as far as marriage is concerned, anything goes.

Ironically, it is in the ultimate victory of considering marriage to be a right, that it loses all meaning – all definition.

Peter Scholz
Iqaluit