Are gay people asking for a new right?

[Mr Skeptic]

Are gay people asking for a new right (the right to gay marriage), or are they asking to retain a right that people are currently trying to take away?

 

To my understanding, the question boils down to, Did the word "marriage", at the time when marriage laws were written, include same-sex marriage?

 

Or, alternately, Is it acceptable to change a law by changing the modern meaning of words in the law, or does that require a new law?

[Pangloss]

I'm not going to tolerate half a dozen threads about the same subject, either. When you all have demonstrated here that you can explore this subject in a reasonable and insightful manner then you can have this thread back.