ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Thirteen same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses, including the brother of comedian Rosie O’Donnell and his longtime partner, do not have a fundamental right to wed, a judge ruled.

The couples’ lawsuit had charged that state health regulations defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman violate the state constitution’s equal protection, privacy and due process provisions. The health department and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have said New York prohibits clerks from issuing licenses to same-sex couples.

Judge Joseph Teresi dismissed the couples’ arguments. Plaintiffs include state Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell and his partner of 23 years, John Banta.

“There is a legitimate state interest in granting marriage licenses only to opposite sex couples,” Teresi wrote.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the couples, was one of nine civil and criminal cases filed this year in New York. In October, a state judge considering a similar lawsuit also ruled against couples denied marriage licenses.

Appeals were promised in both cases.

New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, is widely expected to make the ultimate decision on the legality of same-sex marriage in New York.

“We believe that once the appeals courts are given the opportunity to see how same-sex couples are harmed when they are denied access to the protections of marriage, they will agree that the state can no longer discriminate in this way,” said Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

There was no immediate comment from the state.

Mathew Staver of the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel called the ruling “a great victory for traditional marriage.”

A flurry of lawsuits were filed after New Paltz Mayor Jason West performed a series of same-sex weddings in February.