DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The window of opportunity for gay and lesbian couples to marry in Iowa closed after less than one day Friday when the judge who had struck down Iowa’s same-sex marriage ban the day before issued a stay halting the acceptance of marriage licenses.

Between 2 p.m. Thursday and 12:30 p.m. on Friday, 27 same-sex couples were permitted to file their request for marriage licenses with the Polk County recorder.

Before Thursday’s court ruling by District Court Judge Robert Hanson, accepting such licenses from same-sex couples was illegal under a 1998 law, which permitted only a man and a woman to marry.

Hanson said the law was unconstitutional and must be nullified, severed and stricken from the books. He ruled that the marriage laws “must be read and applied in a gender-neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage.”

Six same-sex couples denied marriage licenses in 2005 filed suit against the county.

Friday morning, same-sex couples began lining up outside the Polk County Administrative Building, waiting for the recorder’s office to open.

Katy Farlow and Larissa Boeck, students at Iowa State University, said they got to the county recorder’s office at 5 a.m., then sat in lawn chairs and ate snacks until the office opened at 7:30 a.m.

They wanted to file an application early, fearing that a judge would grant a stay, stopping applications while Thursday’s ruling is appealed.

“This might be our only chance,” Farlow said. “We already knew we were spending the rest of our lives together.”

One couple took the historic step of getting a license, hurriedly finding a judge to waive a three-day waiting period and arranging for the pastor of a Unitarian Church to marry them on Friday.

The men, Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan of Ames, were married in the front yard of the Rev. Mark Stringer, pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines.

“This is it. We’re married. I love you,” Fritz told McQuillan after the ceremony.

Stringer concluded the ceremony by saying, “This is a legal document and you are married.”

The men then kissed and hugged.

County Attorney John Sarcone notified County Recorder Julie Haggerty to stop accepting license applications after receiving notification that Hanson was drafting a stay. Sarcone requested the stay shortly before appealing the ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Hanson filed a written ruling granting the stay at 12:27 p.m. and Sarcone said any applications after that are not valid.

The license applications that were granted will be on hold and no licenses issued until after the Supreme Court rules, Sarcone said.

Fritz and McQuillan are married and the county plans no action to change that, Sarcone said.

Hanson’s written ruling granting the stay said Sarcone’s arguments “do indeed constitute good cause for the issuance of the requested stay.”

Sarcone’s motion said the judge’s ruling striking down the same-sex marriage ban was far reaching and would likely be overturned by the Iowa Supreme Court.

“In the likely event that the Supreme Court does reverse the district court, then a question will arise as to the validity of those marriage licenses issued in the interim,” the motion said.

Sarcone argued in court documents that if the ruling is overturned on appeal the legal relationships of those who obtain licenses “will be badly confused and complicated if licenses are issued and then declared to be invalid.”

The Des Moines attorney representing the six same-sex couples who filed the lawsuit asked Hanson not to stay his decision.

Dennis Johnson’s motion said the county has little prospect of success in its appeal and that the contention that the licenses issued might be thrown into legal doubt is not true.

He said a marriage license is valid until one or both of the spouses seek to have it dissolved or one dies “regardless of changes in the law that may occur after the couple marries.”

The judge’s stay and resulting abrupt halt to accepting marriage license applications disappointed some who had driven more than 100 miles to Des Moines on Friday to apply.

Lytishya Borglum and partner Danielle Borglum drove more than two hours from Cedar Falls, along with their 13-month-old daughter Berlyn. They planned to apply in Polk County and told their pastor in Cedar Falls to be ready to marry them when they returned.

“(We) plan to take the application home and pray that things change. Even though it is a setback, it is a step in the right direction,” Lytishya Borglum said.

She said they consider themselves married but would like to get legal status to gain more rights.

“As far as we’re concerned, our marriage is between us and God. We’ve been married for three years – if you ask us.”

The Iowa Supreme Court can refer the case to the Iowa Court of Appeals, consider the matter itself or decide not to hear the case.

The flurry of activity in the courts prompted a quick response from some lawmakers.

Republicans immediately called out Democrats, who hold a majority of seats in the Legislature, to act.

“The Democrats should call a special session immediately to take up such issues and to introduce a marriage amendment for Iowa’s constitution,” said House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, in a statement. “House Democrats need to start leading or get out of the way.”

Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act, struck down by Hanson on Thursday, was passed overwhelmingly in 1998 with a vote of 89 to 10 in the House and 40 to 9 in the Senate.

Gov. Chet Culver on Thursday issued a statement stating his opposition to same-sex marriage.

“While some Iowans may disagree on this issue, I personally believe marriage is between a man and a woman,” Culver said.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, and nine other states have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples. Nearly all states have defined marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and 27 states have such wording in their constitutions, according the National Conference of State Legislatures.