A federal appeals court refused to let same-sex marriages resume in California while it considers the constitutionality of a 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals had been asked last month to lift its suspension of an August, 2010, federal court ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker declaring the ballot measure unconstitutional, saying it discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation and gender.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 cited the Appeals Court’s decision to put the case on hold while the California Supreme Court decides matters regarding whether the sponsors of the initiative, a conservative religious coalition called Protect Marriage, have standing under state law to appeal the ruling.  While the state court is not scheduled to hear arguments on that issue until September, it might take months more to rule before the case can return to the federal court.

“It is decidedly unjust and unreasonable to expect California’s gay and lesbian couples to put their lives on hold and suffer daily discrimination as second-class citizens while their U.S. District Court victory comes to its final conclusion,” said Chad Griffin in a statement.  Griffin is the chairman of The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which represents the plaintiffs.