California's Supreme Court has agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage and to let the ban stand in the meantime.
A decision by the same court in May opened marriage to same-sex couples in the most populous US state, one of a handful of states, provinces and mostly European countries where such unions are recognised.
When state voters passed the ban on November 4th, social conservatives celebrated, but nationwide protests by gays and other ban opponents since then have given the debate new life.
Some 52 per cent of voters agreed to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
"I am optimistic that the Supreme Court will affirm that separate is not equal," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. He has compared the fight for gay marriage to the 1960s civil rights battle against majority-tolerated segregation.
"This is a great day for the rule of law and the voters of California," said Andrew Pugno, counsel for the gay marriage ban proponents, who also wanted the matter settled in court.
About 20,000 same-sex marriages may hang in the balance, since the court asked for arguments on whether the ban, Proposition 8, would affect unions between the May court ruling and the November election.
Those marriages have been seen as being in legal limbo, despite state officials including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger saying they should stand.
Gay advocates argued that Californians could not strip a right from a minority with only a majority vote - the constitutional amendment process followed for Proposition 8. A more rigorous process called a constitutional revision was required, they argued.
The court said it would hear arguments on the amendment process, the effect of Proposition 8 on same-sex marriages before the election, and on whether the amendment violated the state's separation-of-powers doctrine.
The court in a 6-1 decision asked all sides to work quickly and said oral arguments could be held as early as March 2009.
The court case pits two fundamental concepts of US democracy against one another, with gay marriage advocates saying the proposition would open the doors to systematic repression of minorities and opponents saying courts must recognise the will of the people under separation of powers doctrine.
Trend-setting California is divided over the issue, with cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles more open to gay marriage, and inland valleys, often compared to the socially conservative Midwest, against it.
Reuters