Same sex marriage would not be a POLITICAL issue if not for the fact that our state and federal governments have gotten deeply involved in the institution by bestowing countless cash and prizes to married people.
If the government was not involved in marriage, then same sex marriage would be strictly between the individuals involved.
But because the government IS involved by bestowing these benefits by law, then the 14th Amendment's "equal protection of the laws" is in play.
Clarence Thomas blatantly omitted any mention of Loving v. Virginia in this recent decision for two reasons.
One, he's married to a white woman.
But more importantly, he excluded Loving in his opinion because the Loving decision stated you could not ban interracial marriage without a rational basis for doing so.
And he knows this. He knows a ban on same sex marriage has no legal led to stand on.