COURT: GAYS CAN'T MARRY.

Byline: Michael Gougis and Harrison Sheppard Staff Writers

The California Supreme Court ordered San Francisco officials Thursday to immediately stop marrying gay couples until the justices can decide in the next few months whether the city has the power to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom immediately complied with the order and teary-eyed gay couples at City Hall were turned away.

The court did not rule on whether Newsom had the authority, as he claims, to allow same-sex marriage licenses, nor did it void the 4,161 marriages the city has licensed since Feb. 12.

Justices also did not address whether the state constitution permits same-sex marriage, saying that issue should work its way through the lower courts.

The action came two weeks after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed Attorney General Bill Lockyer to ask the seven justices to immediately block the gay marriages. Two conservative groups also joined in the legal action.

``I am gratified the California Supreme Court granted our request to quickly resolve this issue,'' Lockyer said in a statement. ``We are pleased the court has agreed to take this important issue and quickly and definitely resolve the legality of the actions taken by San Francisco officials.''

Newsom said his administration would abide by the ruling and looked forward to challenging the voter-approved language in the state constitution that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.

After Newsom authorized the issuance of marriage licenses last month, a host of other municipalities across the nation followed suit, and President George W. Bush said last month that he would back an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

The California court's action came the same day Massachusetts lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages but allow civil unions. That state's highest court ruled in November that it was unconstitutional to prevent gays from marrying.

Conservative activists hailed the California court's decision, which halted the stream of same-sex couples who had descended on the city from across the United States to recite their vows.

``Finally a court is upholding state law that respects and protects marriage for a man and a woman, as it should be. This is a great day for the law, for our republic, and for marriage between a man and a woman as the foundation of our civilization,'' said Randy Thomasson, executive director for Campaign for California Families, the lead plaintiff in the California Supreme Court case.

``They restored order to chaos in San Francisco,'' said Joshua Carden, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, the other group that went to court to block the marriages.

Proponents of same-sex marriage said they expected the ruling and looked forward to having their day in court.

``I didn't think they'd send us flowers,'' said Robin Tyler, 62, of Northridge, co-founder of DontAmend.com, a nationwide organization opposing the Bush-supported constitutional amendment.

``I felt in my heart the Supreme Court was going to stop it. The level of resistance is going to try to match our level of insistence,'' she said. ``But it doesn't dishearten me at all. We are not going to settle for marriage segregation.''

Attorney Gloria Allred, who sued Los Angeles County on behalf of Tyler and her partner Diane Olson, 50, and another gay couple who were refused marriage licenses in Beverly Hills, said the ruling was expected and had no direct bearing on their case.

``It's not a surprise. The court didn't rule on the merits, and it's not a permanent decision. This is not a loss,'' Allred said.

Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, who has been an active supporter of gay marriage, said he wasn't surprised by the ruling.

``I'm not shocked, but I'm not happy about it,'' Koretz said. ``I think any time that discrimination occurs it's not a good thing, and I think the Supreme Court by halting these marriages is supporting that kind of discrimination.

``I think the law is very clear that discrimination isn't allowed and one marriage shouldn't be any different than the next,'' he said.

Sen. William P. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, who sponsored the voter- approved initiative in 2000 declaring that marriage in California was between a man and a woman, praised the court's decision.

``We welcome the Supreme Court's intervention in finally putting an end to the anarchy in San Francisco,'' said Knight, whose son married his longtime partner in a ceremony earlier this month. ``It is a shame that we had to go all the way to the high court to prevent Mayor Newsom and other local officials from breaking the law.''

Thursday's ruling cast doubt on the plans for 2,688 gay couples who had appointments to get marriage licenses at San Francisco City Hall.

``We're not sure what we're going to do,'' said Ken Rozell, 41, of Sherman Oaks, an attorney who had an appointment to marry his partner, Mike Neuwirth, on April 19. Rozell and Neuwirth planned to have relatives and friends from Arkansas, New York and Los Angeles with them for the ceremony in San Francisco.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Michael Gougis, [phone]

michael.gougis(at)dailynews.com