Gay “marriage” is an interesting topic from a federalist, or states’s rights perspective. I could entertain the notion of gay marriage for MA if that decision were restricted to MA and any other state making that choice. But as I understand it, a gay marriage in one state must be recognized in another. That is an incomplete federalism.
If it’s O.K. for MA to legislate that a man carry marry a man, then it should be O.K. for Texas to legislate that such men will be thrown in jail. If that were the case, it would be unwise for such men to travel to Texas. But that is the nature of federalism. Each state gets to make its own laws. There remains a legitimate way to overide state laws - a constitutional amendment.
Requiring all Americans to buy health insurance is a violation of the contracts clause of the 13th Amendment.
Because of DOMA, no state has to recognize another state’s gay marriage. Mass. is about to challenge DOMA in federal court, so we’ll see if it holds up.