Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker will hear closing arguments in the federal gay marriage trial on June 16, Reuters reported.

Saying he wanted to review the evidence before listening to closing arguments, Walker cleared out his San Francisco courtroom in January after hearing two-and-a-half weeks' worth of testimony without issuing a ruling.

The federal trial is the first to consider the constitutionality of a gay marriage ban. Lawyers opposed to Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban approved by voters in 2008, argued that proponents had approved the measure out of animus towards gay men and lesbians, stripping such couples of their constitutional rights.

Proponents of the law say voters approved the measure because they believe allowing gay men and lesbians to marry would hurt children, an argument advanced by the campaign to approve Proposition 8.

The case took a prolonged detour when pro-gay marriage groups challenged a ruling to surrender documents related to the Proposition 8 campaign.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Equality California, the state's largest gay advocate and the lead group behind the campaign against the gay marriage ban, unsuccessfully appealed the ruling. They had argued that the documents are confidential internal communications protected by the First Amendment as political speech.

The groups agreed Wednesday to comply, ending the legal stalemate.

The legal team of Ted Olson and David Boies are representing a gay couple and a lesbian couple who have been denied the right to marry in California because of Proposition 8.