It is about equal protection under the law, which means that in one same gender couple is denied a marriage license all same gender couples must be denied a marriage license, that would be equal. States laws say that two people of the gender cannot marry, they don't specifically state that homosexuals can't marry, so technically a gay man can marry a lesbian, this refutes the lie that homosexuals are denied the right to marry, they can marry, they just cannot marry a person of the same gender.
You forgot to cite the case law in support of this.
The 14th Amendment, Section One:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The bolded text refers to persons only, it doesn’t state a particular race, gender, or sexual orientation – and, to paraphrase the
Plyler Court, homosexuals are persons in any sense of the term.
The most recent case law applying the 14th amendment to same sex marriage can be found in
Perry v Schwarzenegger, currently under review in the Ninth Circuit, where the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Plaintiffs challenge Proposition 8 under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Each challenge is independently meritorious, as Proposition 8 both unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation.
Due process protects individuals against arbitrary governmental intrusion into life, liberty or property. See
Washington v Glucksberg, 521 US 702, 719-720 (1997). When legislation burdens the exercise of a right deemed to be fundamental, the government must show that the intrusion withstands strict scrutiny.
Zablocki v Redhail, 434 US 374, 388 (1978).
https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cand/09cv2292/files/09cv2292-ORDER.pdf
Homosexuals are therefore persons being denied equal access to the marriage laws of the state of California. That they might marry with a female is irrelevant, the state may deny marriage to a couple regardless of gender configuration only upon a reasonable basis. Per current case law with regard to the 14th Amendment, neither California – nor any state or jurisdictions – has realized a reasonable basis.
State laws forbid fathers from marrying daughters, mothers from marrying son, siblings from marrying siblings, bigamy and polygamy, how are gays any better than those people? If they argument that the 14th amendment doesn't apply to the above people how can they argue it applies to their argument?
The 14th Amendment doesnÂ’t apply to the persons and configurations you noted because laws restricting such behavior are applied equally to all genders and races. If, for example, only Hispanics were banned from engaging in polygamy, that would be subject to a 14th Amendment challenge, a more than likely successful challenge.
Understand that states are authorized to restrict or ban any type of behavior they consider harmful or inappropriate provided such bans or restrictions are applied equally to all. When a state wishes to restrict the behavior of a specific group of people, resulting in a possible civil rights violation, the state must realize a very high standard of a compelling governmental interest.
With regard to same sex marriage that standard doesnÂ’t exist.
That some may see homosexuality as ‘bad’ or ‘sinful’ or ‘deviant’ doesn’t justly violating the Constitutional rights of gays in general or same sex couples in particular. Indeed, the very purpose of the Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment (applying the BoR to the states) is to protect the unpopular few from the tyranny of the majority, the central tenet of the rule of law and our Constitutional Republic.