[Shivetya]

Well all rights not defined in the Constitution are inherently in the domain of the states. Marriage is not within the Constitution and this was not a Constitutional issue. This came before the courts mainly because Federal Law needed to be applied to all states for issues concerning pay, benefits, visitation, and so on. So it was more similar to interstate commerce than anything, it certainly wasn't under the equal protection clause because there had not been a national law denoting the designation as existing. No any attempts to say other wise can be slapped down by 14th Amendment challenges - as in gay couples are designated properly within the confines of the law (likely it may take a bill similar to the civil rights law to make it unquestionable)