ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) – A state judge ruled against a group of same-sex couples seeking the right to wed, saying it was a job for lawmakers, not the courts, to extend marriage rights.

The 25 couples applied for marriage licenses early last year and were turned down by the Ithaca city clerk, who was following a state advisory not to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The so-called Ithaca 50 sued the city and the state in June, one of a series of similar suits filed around the state after same-sex marriage became a front-burner issue last year.

State Supreme Court Judge Robert C. Mulvey rejected their arguments, upholding the state’s position.

“Social perceptions of same-sex civil contracts may change over time, and every group has the right to persuade its fellow citizens that its view of such matters is the best,” Mulvey wrote. “If that day comes, it is within the province of the Legislature to so act.”

A lawyer for the couples promised an appeal.

Same-sex couples have lost a few cases so far at the trial level. But earlier last month, a judge in Manhattan ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that the city clerk may not deny a marriage license solely because a couple are of the same sex.

Lawyers in that case are seeking permission to go directly to the state’s top court on appeal.

Jason Seymour, one of the Ithaca plaintiffs, though Mulvey dodged the issue.

“I think that’s just a mockery of the court,” said Seymour, who filed along with partner Jason Hungerford. “The court should interpret the law.”