In legal papers filed last week, lawyers challenging Proposition 8 took note of the "serious, lasting, and irreparable damage to gay men and lesbians who wish to marry" caused by this extended timetable and called on the federal court to lift its injunction.

The stay should never have been granted in the first place. Applying traditional legal criteria, the extraordinary relief of a stay is only warranted when the applicant makes a strong showing of likely success on the merits and of irreparable injury in the absence of a stay -- two arguments that cannot be satisfied here.