Lawyers challenging the
constitutionality of California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, on
Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to allow the weddings to
resume, the AP reported.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Vaughn
Walker ruled the 2008 voter-approved law unconstitutional.
Supporters of the ban, however,
appealed the decision and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals placed
Walker's ruling on hold.
The appeals court heard oral arguments
in the case in December, but then turned to the California Supreme
Court to decide whether the law's sponsors have the legal standing to
defend it in court. The
high court has said it won't hear arguments in the case until
September.
“Each day plaintiffs, and gay men and
lesbians like them, are denied the right to marry – denied the full
blessings of citizenship – is a day that never can be returned to
them,” lawyers for the plaintiffs argued in their filing.
The lawyers also noted President
Barack Obama's recent decision to no longer defend the Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that bans the federal
government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian
couples, and allows states to ignore such marriages.