If gay marriage loses at the U.S. Supreme Court......how would that impact state courts?

If a lawsuit alleging that banning gay marriage violates the FEDERAL constitution loses at the SCOTUS......


That doesn't stop a STATE court from ruling that banning gay marriage violates the STATE constitution, right?
 
Yes, the states are sometimes "ahead of" or have stricter rules about things than are in place at the federal level. For example, some states have stricter clean air requirements than federal ones. If a state constitution had a specific protection for gay unions and the federal courts have established no federal constitutional protection then the states could strike down gay marriage bans.
 
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