SEATTLE (AP) — GLBT leaders are advising same-sex couples to consider possible negative consequences before rushing off to get married in Canada.

They’re also discouraging couples from filing lawsuits independently seeking to have such marriages recognized in the states where they live, saying the wrong case could set back efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States.

“We are cautioning people against filing lawsuits as political acts,” said Jon Davidson, senior counsel of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund. “We don’t think courts would respond well to that.”

British Columbia last week granted same-sex couples the same rights to marry as straight couples. Gay Americans have already been married in Ontario, where same-sex marriage has been legal for a month. Eventually, all of Canada will allow same-sex marriages, as do the Netherlands and Belgium.

Canada’s new stance on gay marriage, along with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the nation’s remaining anti-sodomy laws, has heartened those fighting for GLBT rights in America.

And a decision is expected soon by Massachusetts’ highest court that could enable same-sex couples to marry there, which would be a first in the United States. A similar case is pending in New Jersey.

“A lot of stuff is happening right now,” said Davidson, based in Los Angeles. “We need to give the country a chance to have this all sink in.”

Despite his calls for caution, Davidson told The Seattle Times that he is buoyed by the recent developments and has started calling his partner of 12 years his fiancé.

After careful consideration, Marla Meislin and Anita Dietrich of Seattle, together for six years, have decided to get married in Vancouver, British Columbia, as early as September. The couple had a commitment ceremony four years ago.

“For us, this is a statement to ourselves that we are asserting the permanence of our relationship,” Meislin said. “It satisfies more of an emotional need than a legal one. We aren’t trying to change the world.”

John Wilkinson and David Davenport of Seattle, together for 33 years, have decided against a Canadian marriage but say they’ll wed in Massachusetts if that state allows it. A ruling in the Massachusetts case due July 14 has been postponed.

Lambda and three other leading gay and lesbian legal-advocacy groups issued a joint statement in June urging couples to “absolutely not race across the border just to set up lawsuits (as) the wrong cases could set us back for years.”

“Those kinds of groups have proven themselves very good at understanding what the legal issues are that judges are looking for and in finding cases that tend to bring those issues out,” said Roger Winters, president of Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington.

“We as a community should leave it up to them to figure out if a particular lawsuit is a good idea.”

Openly gay Washington state Rep. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) said he worries that a same-sex couple might file a lawsuit in Washington state without coordinating it with such a group.

“The minute someone files a lawsuit here, there will be a pretty strong reaction and organized effort to fight it, and Washington state’s gay and lesbian community lacks the political infrastructure to take on that battle,” he said.

Venue will be taken into account as some states are more sympathetic toward same-sex couples, Davidson said. An ideal case also would likely involve a couple able to show real harm due to their marriage not being recognized.