SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s highest court Wednesday refused to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, clearing the final hurdle for gay couples to start tying the knot this month.

Conservative religious and legal groups had asked the California Supreme Court to stop its May 15 order requiring state and local officials to sanction same-sex unions from becoming effective until voters have the chance to consider the issue in November. The justices’ decisions typically become final after 30 days.

“The Court’s denial of the petitions for rehearing today means that the court’s decision will be final on June 16. Lesbian and gay couples in California will be able to marry on an equal basis starting on June 17. We are grateful to the court for ruling on the petitions so quickly and for allowing its historic victory for fairness and opportunity to go into effect without further delay.”

He added: “Every day, public support for the freedom to marry is growing. All Californians will benefit from this landmark day for our state.”

“We’re delighted but not surprised by the court’s decision,” said Delores A. Jacobs, CEO of The San Diego LGBT Community Center. “The court rarely rehears arguments once it has issued a decision. We’re looking forward to June 17, when people in our community can enjoy the same freedoms other Californians enjoy.”

Mathew Staver, legal director of Liberty Counsel and lawyer for the Campaign for California Families, who argued in support of the ban on same-sex marriage, told the San Francisco Chronicle the court’s action “reveals the political agenda of a handful of judges.”

“I don’t believe at the end of the day the people will allow four judges to rewrite marriage,” Staver told the San Francisco newspaper. “If any same-sex marriage licenses are issued before November, the passage of the constitutional amendment will make them invalid and invisible.”

According to the Web site of the California secretary of state, same-sex marriage opponents collected the 694,354 signatures necessary to put an initiative an initiative to ban same-sex marriage on the Nov. 4 ballot. Its passage would overrule the court’s decision by amending the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.

In arguing for a delay, the amendment’s sponsors predicted chaos if couples married in the next few months, only to have the practice halted at the ballot box.

The four justices who denied the stay request were the same judges who joined in the majority opinion that found withholding marriage from same-sex couples constituted discrimination. The three dissenting justices said they thought a hearing on whether the stay should be granted was warranted.

The majority did not elaborate on its reasons for denying the stay, but simply issued a one-page order saying its original ruling on marriage would be final at 5 p.m. on June 16.

Wednesday’s denial clears the way for gay couples in the nation’s most populous state to get married starting June 17, when state officials have said counties must start issuing new gender-neutral marriage licenses.

California is now the second state after Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Field Institute published a study on May 28 showing 52 percent of Californians support same-sex marriage compared to 41 percent who oppose. That poll was a sharp contrast to one carried out in 1977, when 59 percent of Californians surveyed rejected same-sex marriage, with only 28 percent in favor.