TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — One day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law banning gay sex, an attorney for seven gay couples argued in a New Jersey courtroom that same-sex marriage should be legally recognized by the state.

A deputy attorney general countered that the issue belongs in the Legislature, not the courts.

Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg ordered both sides to file additional legal arguments in the case and said she would not rule for at least two months.

The June 27 hearing was on a state motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the same-sex couples.

Deputy Attorney General Patrick DeAlmeida said that while the state does not doubt the sincerity of committed relationships of same-sex couples, there is nothing in the New Jersey Constitution that guarantees their right to marriage.

“The right to maintain relationships is not being interfered with,” DeAlmeida said.

David S. Buckel, the attorney for the couples, argued that the marriages should be allowed under the constitution’s guarantees of equality and privacy.

Buckel said the June 26 U.S. Supreme Court ruling was heartening to those seeking same-sex marriages.

“The federal Supreme Court sent a very strong message that the day has come when lesbian and gay couples are due dignity and respect,” Buckel said.

The New Jersey lawsuit was filed last year by seven couples who have all been in their committed relationships for at least 10 years. Four of the couples have children.

One couple, Cindy Meneghin and Maureen Killian, were in the courtroom June 27 with their two children, Joshua, 10, and Sarah, 8. Meneghin said she and Killian have been together for 28 years and their family is like any other in their Butler, Morris County, neighborhood.

“Our neighbors see us as committed to each other like any other couple, but we don’t have the same rights and protections as they have,” she said.

Also in the courtroom were members of the Coalition for Traditional Marriage, which has joined with the state in opposing the lawsuit.

Feinberg asked the attorneys to present arguments on whether same-sex marriage is a fundamental right and whether it should be provided with protection under the law. The judge told Buckel that previous court rulings have held that same-sex marriage is not a fundamental right.

The judge also asked Buckel why the matter shouldn’t be with the Legislature. He argued that because the case is about constitutional content it belongs in the courts.

Thirty-seven states and the federal government have adopted measures that define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Bills introduced in the New Jersey Legislature would declare same-sex marriages void and not recognize those from other jurisdictions.