[Hoot Gibson]

It is a civil right when you allow one and not the other, though. Do away with both, or allow both.

No, gays and lesbians do not have a civil right to marry. If a state passes a law to allow them to marry, then they have that right within that state. The NJ law did not pass, so they have no such right. Until gays and lesbians can win the support of the majority of NJ voters, then they should not be allowed to marry there.

I have no civil right to food stamps, welfare checks, treatment in VA hospitals, a free cell phone, or a host of other government benefits that other people receive. We have the right to equal protection under the law, but the government can and does discriminate between individual based on criteria that our elected officials set. These are not civil rights. Marriage is no different - it is a legal institution that has a well defined historical definition in our society.

State governments cannot deny any of us a marriage in a church that ones to recognize our unions but they can decide which marriages should be recognized as legally binding upon the parties.