The California Supreme Court ordered a halt Thursday to same-sex marriages in San Francisco.

The court issued an interim stay directing officials to stop allowing same sex marriages.

The stay will remain in effect while several cases on the issue are pending before the court.

The seven-justice court also ordered San Francisco officials to prove why they believe they "have not exceeded their authority," even though no court has determined whether existing marriage laws are unconstitutional.

Soon after the ruling was announced, Mabel Teng, San Francisco's city assessor, said the city would stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

The temporary stay will presumably stay in force until May or June, when oral arguments in the case will be presented.

The court ruled that the constitutionality issues may be litigated separately in another case filed in Superior Court.

More than 3,400 couples have been married since Mayor Gavin Newsom permitted gay marriages February 12.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was "very much against" same-sex marriages unless Californians vote to approve them.

Schwarzenegger ordered the state's attorney general to ask the state's Supreme Court for the ruling on whether San Francisco's actions violate state law.

Two lawsuits against the city seeking to halt the marriages and the city's suit against the state have been combined.  

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2004)