SAN FRANCISCO - California's attorneygeneral urged a US appeals court on Tuesday to permit gay
marriages while it considers whether to overturn the state'sban on same-sex weddings.The move follows a decision last week by US PresidentBarack Obama's administration that it would no longer defendthe 15-year-old US law defining marriage as only between aman and a woman, a major policy shift in favor of gay rights.
Attorney General Kamala Harris, in arguments filed with the9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, asked the court to dismissits order prohibiting gay marriages in the most populous USstate while a lawsuit over California's ban unfolds.