( CNN ) -- California 's Supreme Court on Tuesday denied the San Diego County clerk 's request to immediately halt same-sex marriages in the state , the latest , if not necessarily last , key ruling in a years-long legal fight . The decision was announced in a brief ruling , which said : `` The request for an immediate temporary stay or injunctive relief is denied . '' Kamala Harris , California 's attorney general , also tweeted the news . She is among the state officials who have supported same-sex marriage and opposed the implementation of Proposition 8 , a referendum that limited marriages in the state to those between a man and a woman . The U.S. Supreme Court paved the way last month for gay and lesbian couples to resume marrying in the state . In a lengthy court document filed last Friday with California 's Supreme Court , San Diego County Clerk Ernest Dronenburg asked the court to order Gov . Jerry Brown , Harris and other state officials to abide by an `` immediate temporary stay '' to once again halt same-sex marriages . `` Petitioner has been placed in an unsustainable position because , among other things , he has been threatened with legal action by the attorney general for exercising his public duties consistent with state law defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman , '' Dronenburg argued . Earlier Tuesday -- before the state high court 's decision came down -- same-sex marriage supporters gathered in San Diego to decry the efforts by Dronenburg and his supporters to continue their fight . `` Your religion , I respect it , I do n't agree with it , '' LGBT rights activist Sean Sala said . `` But my religion and your religion do not run this land . The Constitution of the United States runs this land . '' At one point , Dronenburg himself came out to make his case , addressing reporters as his opponents stood around him . The clerk said he wanted California 's Supreme Court to halt same-sex marriages because of what had happened once before : such weddings took place only to be later ruled to be against state law . `` I asked for a stay because it 's cruel to set up people , '' the county clerk said . The back-and-forth over same-sex marriage in California has been playing out in the courts and in political forums for years . Fast Facts : Same-sex marriage . In May 2008 , California 's Supreme Court struck down the state 's ban on same-sex marriage , ruling that the state 's constitution gives `` this basic civil right to ( marry to ) all Californians , whether gay or heterosexual , and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples . '' The tide turned a few months later , when 52 % of voters backed Proposition 8 to halt gay and lesbian marriages . Yet state officials declined to stand behind the prohibition , even if private parties did . A federal appeals court subsequently ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional , though it still issued a stay on same-sex marriages until the U.S. Supreme Court could weigh in . That happened June 26 , when the nation 's high court -- in a 5-4 decision -- dismissed an appeal of the earlier lower court ruling on narrow , jurisdictional grounds . High court lets same-sex marriages in California continue . Two days later , the Ninth U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals officially lifted the previous injunction and same-sex weddings took place very soon thereafter . Proposition 8 backers tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to again intervene , but Justice Anthony Kennedy refused to do so . Since filing his petition , Dronenburg has become a champion for those who favor restricting marriage to heterosexuals . In a tweet several days ago , for instance , the American Family Association 's Bryan Fischer compared the county clerk to civil rights icon Rosa Parks for refusing `` to violate CA constitution on wedding licenses . '' Gay rights groups , like Marriage Equality USA , cheered Tuesday 's decision denying Dronenburg 's request . Still , San Diego Gay and Lesbian News reported that the long , winding legal battle has n't necessarily come to an end . `` It 's not over ! '' tweeted that organization , which describes itself as `` a proud member of the San Diego LGBT community . '' `` California Supreme Court still has to has to hear petitions to halt same-gender marriage in August . ''
NEW : A county clerk says he asked for a stay `` because it 's cruel to set up people '' NEW : Gay rights groups cheer the ruling , while adding the legal battle is n't necessarily over . California 's Supreme Court declines to immediately halt same-sex marriages in state . The U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for such marriages in a key ruling last month .