The California Supreme Court and the Massachusetts Legislature took action Thursday, with one temporarily halting same-sex marriages, and the other giving preliminary approval to a constitutional amendment.

The California court ordered San Francisco to immediately stop marrying same-sex couples. The court said it will hear a case in May or June on the legality of such marriages.

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In Massachusetts, legislators gave preliminary approval Thursday to a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage but allow for civil unions, but decided to adjourn the debate until the end of March. (Read the amendment)

The action by California's highest court came two weeks after State Attorney General Bill Lockyer and a conservative group asked the seven justices to immediately block the gay marriages.

More than 3,700 gay couples have wed at San Francisco City Hall so far. The city started issuing marriage licenses Feb. 12 in an action that Mayor Gavin Newsom called civil disobedience against a state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

It is not clear what the legal force of those thousands of marriages is.

The Massachusetts Legislature approved a potential constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage but allow for civil unions.

After hours of debating and two votes approving the proposed amendment Thursday, lawmakers agreed to take up the debate again on March 29.

For any amendment to pass, three votes must be taken: one to adopt the amendment, then a vote to give it initial approval and then a final vote to send it to next year's constitutional convention. But in between the votes are a series of procedural votes that could stop any amendment.

If an amendment is approved again in the next session, it would go to voters for final approval. A change could not take effect until 2006.

The Legislature adjourned its last constitutional convention on Feb. 12 after two days of debate. Three same-sex marriage bans failed to win approval.

During debate, which ended at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, legislators had to close the doors to their chamber because chanting demonstrators in the halls were making noise, Boston television station WCBV reported.

After debate Thursday afternoon, lawmakers weighed in just after 6 p.m. on the compromise and approved the proposal by a vote of 129 to 69. Later Thursday evening, after a few more hours of debate, a second vote also gave the proposal initial approval. Shortly before midnight, lawmakers announced they would revisit the issue at the end of March.

Lawmakers on both side of the issue tried to sway their colleagues before votes were tallied.

House Speaker Tom Finneran and Senate President Robert Travaglini predicted Thursday morning that a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but legalize civil unions will pass. But another senator later said that it was unclear if a proposed amendment had the votes to pass.

Hundreds of protesters from both sides of the issue showed up at the Statehouse Thursday, crowding halls and demonstrating outside.

Massachusetts is the only state where gay marriages are slated to become legal. That's supposed to happen on May 17 under a high court decision issued in November that said that the state's constitution does not allow banning homosexual couples from marrying.

It also said that civil unions would not remedy the situation.