What a horrible future awaits a republic once dedicated to the maxim that no law can be legitimate without the consent of the people.
As for the 14th Amendment and equal protection, it was in an earlier, less Utopian time when we passed another amendment, to guarantee female suffrage. I wonder how long, absent the 19th, a Scotus could have resisted granting women's suffrage on 14th Amendment grounds.
I think there are nine states that recognize ‘gay marriage’. Three states have now approved gay marriage through the popular voting process, Maine, Maryland and Washington. A few others used pols like you say, the rest have used the courts.
Freegards