( CNN ) -- A federal appeals court decided Tuesday to continue the stay of a judge 's ruling that struck down Michigan 's same-sex marriage ban , meaning that gay and lesbian couples can not marry in the state while the appeals process unfolds . U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman issued an order Friday that invalidated a state constitutional amendment restricting marriage to between one man and one woman because , in his view , it violated the U.S. Constitution . His ruling set the stage for same-sex couples to marry immediately . And scores of them did Saturday until the 6th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals -- after a request filed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette -- issued an order to temporarily stay , or put on hold , Friedman 's decision through at least Wednesday . The same federal court decided to act even sooner than that with its decision Tuesday . It cited an apparently unanimous Supreme Court order from January regarding a similar case in Utah . Utah had asked the high court to intervene last week after 10th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay a lower court ruling in December striking down Utah 's voter-approved prohibition of legal wedlock for gays and lesbians . Two 6th Circuit appeals judges signed onto Tuesday 's decision , making it binding , while one -- Judge Helene White -- dissented . White said that while the Supreme Court did act regarding Utah , `` it did so without a statement of reasons , and therefore the order provides little guidance . '' Voters in Utah , Michigan and nine other states passed constitutional amendments in 2004 defining marriage as one man and one woman . Whether same-sex couples should be allowed to wed was a hot-button issue then and in subsequent years , with polls showing that most Americans favored restrictions . But public opinion shifted over time . An ABC News/Washington Post survey released earlier this month found that 59 % of Americans favor allowing gay or lesbian couples to legally wed . The courts have stepped in as well , most notably the Supreme Court 's landmark decision last June rejecting parts of the Defense of Marriage Act while ruling same-sex spouses legally married in a state may receive federal benefits . Friedman 's ruling was the latest in a series of recent similar decisions affecting marriage restrictions in states including Texas , Virginia , Kentucky and Oklahoma . In most all those cases , the judge 's orders did not take effect immediately . But Michigan 's did and , as in Utah , scores of same-sex couples sought and got marriage licenses before later court decisions halted such unions -- at least for now , as higher courts weigh in . In Ingham County , Michigan , for example , 57 gay and lesbian couples got licenses , according to county clerk Barb Byrum . Their legal status in Michigan , in the wake of the various court rulings , was in limbo until Wednesday . In a statement , Gov . Rick Snyder said these same-sex couples had been `` legally married . '' But that does not mean that they 'll be afforded the same benefits as married heterosexual couples in the state , at least for the time being . `` Because the stay brings Michigan law on this back into effect , the rights tied to these marriages are suspended until the stay is lifted or Judge Friedman 's decision is upheld on appeal , '' Snyder said , referring to the state 's ban on gay marriages . Couples marry before court halts licenses .
NEW : Governor : Laws tied to gay marriages that took place are ` ` suspended '' A judge had struck down California 's same - sex marriage ban . Thousands of couples married before an appeals court issued a temporary stay . That same appeals court continues its stay , but no more gay marriages -- for now .