SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego country club being sued by a lesbian couple for discrimination has told an appeals court that it refused to give the women a family membership because it might make the club look “gay friendly” and open a “floodgate” of applications from same-sex couples. But, said the club’s lawyer, that was not discrimination because it does not bar gays or same-sex couples from joining.

The lawyer for Bernardo Heights Country Club said that the club has a policy of allowing spouses of members to play golf for free but does not consider same-sex partners to be spouses.

Birgit Koebke and Kendall French are suing the club, claiming it is discriminating because same-sex couples cannot legally marry in California. Koebke and French have been domestic partners since 1993.

Koebke, a marketing executive at a local television station, paid $18,000 for a club membership in 1986. Because they are unmarried, French, 41, an employee of a car dealership, cannot play the course for free like the spouse of a club member, and cannot inherit Koebke’s membership. French can only accompany Koebke as a guest six times a year, paying the $50 to $70 greens fees each time.

A superior court judge ruled in favor of the country club in 2002 and the couple took the case to the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The court heard testimony that the former general manager of the club had said that heterosexual couples — some unmarried, others divorced — were sometimes allowed spousal privileges. Grandchildren have also been allowed to play for free, according to court documents.

“They were willing to make exceptions for everybody but this couple,” said Lambda Legal lawyer Jon Davidson who is representing the couple.

John Shiner, the attorney for the country club, called the assertion by the former general manager “a nit in the wind.” A few instances of rule-breaking do not qualify as a “policy, pattern or procedure,” Shiner said.

The three justices seemed to disagree. “That’s not a nit in the wind, is it, what the general manager said?” asked Justice James McIntyre. “We’re not talking about a stray comment from a member.”

Justice Patricia Benke said the former general manager’s comment might be enough to establish that the policy, in effect, targeted gay and lesbian couples because it was not enforced against unmarried heterosexual couples.

The justices said a decision would come within six weeks.

The case is one of two involving same-sex couples suing country clubs for spousal recognition. The other is in Atlanta, where the city’s Human Relations Commission earlier this month found Druid Hills Country Club guilty of discrimination.