Group wants gay marriage delayed

A conservative legal group is asking the California Supreme Court to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage until voters get a chance to weigh in.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund wants the ruling stayed until November, when voters are likely to encounter a ballot measure that would amend the state’s constitution to ban gay marriage. That amendment would overturn the justices’ ruling.

In court papers submitted late Thursday, the group argued that allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed before the election “risks legal havoc and uncertainty of immeasurable magnitude.”

Attorneys with the group also say implementing the ruling in the meantime would be an unnecessary expense for the state and cause unnecessary confusion for couples.