"Article V states that there are only two ways to adjust the Constitution, one is by an amendment that is proposed by the states, or when congress proposes an amendment by a two thirds vote. So the Defense of Marriage Act and the proposed Constitutional amendment seem put ideals into the constitution and naturalize them, something we the people originally decided would not be allowed. This means that the same-sex marriage subject should be decided by the powers of the states and the populaces within.
The Constitution clearly states its principle of federalism by stating that powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states by the Constitution of the United States are reserved to the states or the people.
The first same sex marriage case took place in Minnesota in May of 1970, which was nine months after the Stonewall riots which had been written by Jack Baker and Michael McConnell. They cited the precedent of the 1967 United States Supreme Court's decision in Loving v. Virginia which struck down Virginia's interracial marriage ban.
but the Minnesota Supreme Court famed Loving, concluding "in commonsense and in a constitutional sense, there is a clear distinction between a marital restriction based merely on race and one based upon the fundamental difference in sex" (Baker v.Nelson [1971]) Therefore, the court refused to consider Baker and McConnell's equal protection claim, "The institution of marriage as a union of man and woman . . . is as old as the book of Genesis " In conclusion, Baker and McConnell appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal for "lack of a substantial federal question. " Another two post-Stonewall same-sex marriage cases, paraded in Kentucky by a lesbian couple. Court case acknowledged as (Jones v. Hallahan [1973]) and Washington State by a gay male couple (Singer v. Hara [1974]), overall, met the same outcome as Baker.
