Most opponents of gay marriage – which recently became legal after California's Supreme Court overturned the state's law against it – made clear their intentions of asking the state’s court to delay the implementation of the ruling as supporters and those against the same-sex marriage gear up before the November ballot measure aimed at undoing the decision.

Ron Prentice, committee chairman of ProtectMarriage.com who opposes same-sex marriage, labeled the ruling of the Supreme Court as “a temporary victory’ for those who are in favor of it.

Prentice argued that the recent ruling makes invalid another law which defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.

According to the current ruling, same-sex couples throughout California will be allowed to wed and will no longer be denied the marriage license.

However, a motion to ask for an extension of the waiting period to November will be filed soon according to Mathew Staver, a lawyer for Campaign for California Families, another of the groups fighting to defend the marriage ban.

A petition for a ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage has gathered 1.1 million signatures, much more than needed to be handed over to election officials.

Nevertheless, the opinion on same-sex marriage is nowhere more divided then in the religious communities, where the concept of marriage has torn apart families, congregations and in some cases entire archdioceses.

When asked about the impact the ruling on gay marriage will have on the picture of the religious community, Mary Tolbert, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry in Berkeley, said that, for the time being, he doesn’t expect much change – “maybe not for a decade." Tolbert considers that the same-sex marriage will become less of an issue as “more and more gays and lesbians marry”.

The ruling was a cause of celebration for some religious communities. A clergy addressed the Bay Area liberal congregations including some who made efforts to win legal recognition of gay marriage.

On the other hand, many evangelical and Catholic pastors condemned the ruling that promotes a style of life which is at odds with their religious doctrines.

However, the issue of same-sex marriage is going to dominate the fall ballot. There is no question about it.