The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco heard arguments on Monday on whether judges in Nevada and Hawaii were correct to uphold those states' gay marriage bans, according to The Associated Press.
Hawaii's legislature subsequently voted to allow same-sex nuptials, while a federal judge struck down Idaho's gay marriage prohibition, the AP reported.
Stephen Reinhardt, the 9th Circuit judge who previously struck down California's gay marriage ban in 2012, was one of three judges reviewing the latest cases on Monday, according to the AP.
The other two 9th Circuit judges, Marsha Berzon and Ronald Gould, have also previously voted to expand gay rights, the AP reported.
Monte Neil Stewart, the attorney defending bans in Nevada and Idaho, argued that same-sex marriages would lead to lower marriage rates over time, according to the AP. Marriage restrictions are not motivated by hatred towards gay people, he said, and would not affect laws allowing gay couples to adopt children.
A total 19 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage, the AP reported. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act known as DOMA that limited federal benefits to heterosexual couples.
Since then, more than 30 federal and state judges have ruled against same-sex marriage bans, according to the AP. The Nevada and Hawaii opinions came before the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on DOMA.
If the Supreme Court takes up the issue, the dispute would likely be heard in early 2015, with a decision by the end of June, the AP reported. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court swing vote who authored the DOMA opinion, loomed large in court on Monday.
"We all know this is going to be decided one step up," Stewart said, according to the AP. "And we all know by whom!" said Reinhardt, to laughter.
