Supreme court will hear gay marriage arguments in March

Justices on Monday announced they will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry on March 26 and United States v. Windsor on March 27.

Supporters of gay marriage rally outside the federal courthouse in San Francisco, California in this photo from 2010. On the morning of March 26, the US Supreme Court will review a California ban on gay marriage, which voters narrowly approved in 2008.

Robert Galbraith/Reuters/File

January 7, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear two days of arguments over laws affecting gay marriage.

Justices on Monday announced they will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry on March 26 and United States v. Windsor on March 27.

The first case involves California's constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage. The second concerns a federal law that denies gay couples who legally marry the right to obtain federal benefits available to heterosexual married couples.

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Nine states — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington— and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage.