Do you believe that a State cane declare, and compel adherence to, the proposition that two men or two women are "married" to each other?
Normally I’d say yes, but I also have reservations.
On one hand, the states have never amended the Constitution to prohibit anything but traditional one man one woman marriage. So in that way, there’s no clear prohibition of gay marriage in the Constitution.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court seems to have relied in part on English common law when it decided Reynolds v. United States (Reynolds) against the Territory of Utah in 1878. That case tested the constitutionality of polygamous marriage that Mormons were practicing in that territory.
The problem with Reynolds is that it was not a 10th Amendment issue since Utah was still a territory, not a state. But since common law is referenced in the 7th Amendment to the Constitution for example, I don’t know what trumps what between common law and 10th Amendment-protected state powers.
Insights welcome.