Supreme Court split in gay marriage hearing

The California Supreme Court appeared divided today over the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Justice Carlos R. Moreno's questions did not make clear which way he was leaning. But he asked a lawyer for the city of San Francisco whether the state's domestic partnerships gave same-sex couples rights equal to those extended to married couples.

The court's decision will resolve a dispute that began in 2004, when the city and county of San Francisco married nearly 4,000 same-sex couples. The justices have 90 days to decide whether to strike down California law that limits marriage to a man and a woman, and instead to permit same-sex couples to wed.

A trial judge in San Francisco had ruled in favor of the gay couples, but that decision was overturned 2-1 by a Court of Appeal panel here. The court received dozens of written arguments from law professors, psychologists, religious groups and civil rights advocates on whether same-sex couples should be permitted to marry.