It is really confusing to me . Considering Gay Marriage came about in the first place because of States Rights it shouldn ' t be confusing . The ability for society to progress forward in a sensible manner is maximized when an individual state has the right to do something controversial that challenges the conventional norms and prove the rightness of their cause . Even if a few states had held out , public opinion started shifting as soon as a few early states legalized gay marriage and nationwide gay marriage would have come eventually . A stronger Federal government would have had a better chance of preventing Gay Marriage in the first place , the Defense of Marriage Act for example signed into law by Clinton , which only affected the definition at the federal level , would have barred gay marriage outright if not for State ' s rights .