The 14th Amendment provides, in part, that no state can "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Among them was the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.How did gay and lesbian relationships go so quickly from being subject to criminal prohibition to being eligible for marriage? The Citizenship Clause granted citizenship to All persons born or naturalized in the United States. The first memorable attempt to end discrimination was heralded in the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. A key provision of this amendment. It included provisions to protect men's right to vote while abridging the rights of former Confederates. The 14th Amendment, one of three Reconstruction amendments, was passed to extend guarantees of the Bill of Rights to former slaves.