The first of two judges to listen to objections to gay marriage in San Francisco delayed until at least Friday whether to block the city from continuing to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
The second judge will take up a different petition Tuesday afternoon.
Going into the day, same-sex couples rushed to get married at San Francisco's City Hall just in case courts later would stop them from doing so.
By Monday night, 2,340 gay and lesbian couples had taken vows at City Hall. The rush began Thursday when the county clerk, under Mayor Gavin Newsom's directions, defied state law and began issuing "gender-neutral" marriage licenses.
Opponents of Newsom's decision hoped to stop them.
"There's no law that says same-sex couples can get married," Jordan Lorence, a spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, which petitioned to have Newsom's order blocked, told Fox News.
A court hearing in the Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, which hears all municipal cases, was scheduled for 5 p.m. EST Tuesday on the group's petition.
Already today, the Campaign for California Families, went before a judge to block the licenses but San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay delayed any action until late this week. The CCF wanted an injunction to keep the city from issuing any more licenses to same-sex couples, and a declaration that the ones already granted are invalid.
San Francisco city official Thom Lynch told Fox News that Newsom and other city officials did not feel they were breaking any laws.
"We're practicing the law as now defined by the state constitution, which says that all of our citizens are protected by equal rights," Lynch said.
City officials have argued that the equal protection clause of the California Constitution makes denying marriage licenses to gay couples illegal.
Lawyers for those defending Proposition 22 — a 2000 ballot initiative that binds the state to recognize only marriages between a man and woman — contended the mayor lacks the authority to make that decision.
The city's lawyers said they would argue that local government agencies or officials are not barred from advancing their own interpretations of the state constitution.
They also planned to claim the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that continuing to issue licenses for same-sex couples would cause the irreparable harm necessary to obtain a court stay.
"Same-sex couples denied the right to marry face far greater harm than the petitioners here," stated a legal brief filed by the city Monday.
Most of the gay couples issued licenses at City Hall have been from the Bay Area, but about 50 have been from other states, including New York, Georgia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, Assessor Mabel Teng (search) said.
Many of the city workers who helped process the licenses during the holiday weekend volunteered their time, Teng said.
The city would continue issuing marriage licenses on Tuesday "unless told otherwise by the city attorney," she said. But she added that the city would be able to issue only about 30 to 50 more licenses a day because the volunteers would have to return to their regular jobs.
The looming legal showdown didn't deter thousands of people from gathering at City Hall on Monday, either to get married themselves or to cheer on beaming newlyweds.
The steps in front of City Hall resembled a raucous wedding reception as newlyweds leaving the building hand-in-hand were greeted with applause and trumpet fanfare. Other couples drove by, honking their horns and waving their freshly minted marriage certificates.
"It doesn't matter even if it's a one-day thing, because of the precedent," said Tom O'Brien, of Redwood City, who returned to City Hall for the second day in a row so he could wed his partner of four years, Sathit Sapprasert. "It's important that we stand up. Whether this survives the scrutiny is another question."
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