SACRAMENTO (AP) – Three Sacramento men have been arrested after a beating that law enforcement officials describe as a hate crime against homosexuals, police said Friday.

The May 15 evening incident at a Sacramento gas station came just hours after the California Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning a state ban on same-sex marriages.

A 23-year-old Sacramento man was sitting with another man in a car near the station’s restroom when the three suspects asked if he was a homosexual, Sacramento Police Officer Michelle Lazark said.

The man said he was. When he got out of the car, the three men beat and kicked him, Lazark said. He did not require medical treatment.

It was not immediately clear if the suspects were reacting to the court’s ruling, Lazark said.

“It’s a gay-bashing. Gay slurs were used before they commenced to beating him,” she said. “I don’t know if these guys were looking for someone or are just ignorant.”

In its 4-3 ruling Thursday, the California Supreme Court said denying marriage based on a couple’s sexual orientation violates their civil rights. The decision could permit same-sex marriages in the nation’s most populous state in as little as a month.

Opponents are expected to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Gareth Lacy, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, and FBI spokesman Steve Dupre, said they were not immediately aware of hate crimes linked to the court’s ruling.

Representatives of gay and civil rights organizations also said they had not heard of any similar incidents throughout the state.

The California attorney general’s office recorded 246 hate crimes based on sexual orientation in 2006, the most recent year available. That was down from 255 in 2005.

Lazark said a May 15 evening Sacramento rally by gays and lesbians celebrating the court decision was uneventful. Just two people showed up to protest.

The victim of the Sacramento beating, who police would not name, identified his attackers, who were arrested near the gas station. Their cases are being reviewed by Sacramento County prosecutors, spokeswoman Tanisha Worthy said.

Micah Jontomo Tasaki, 21, remained in jail because he was unable to post $85,000 bond. Gregory Lee Winfield, 20, and Robert Lee Denor, 19, were freed after posting bond. None had lawyers registered.

They were scheduled for initial court appearances on Monday.