TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) – A tribal court has scheduled a hearing this week on a preliminary injunction to prevent a same-sex couple from filing their marriage certificate with the tribe.

The Cherokee Nation’s Judicial Appeals Tribunal issued a temporary restraining order in the case after nine of the tribe’s 15 councilors filed a petition last week against Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley.

The councilors amended the petition to point out several references in the Cherokee Nation Code denoting sex and gender in a tribal marriage.

“Petitioners pray that this court declare that same-sex marriages are not allowed under Cherokee law and that the respondents’ marriage certificate is null and void,” documents state.

Councilors acted shortly after the judicial panel dismissed a case filed by the councilors’ attorney, Todd Hembree. That case was dismissed when the court found that Hembree lacked standing and failed to show that harm would result from the couple’s union.

Hembree will represent the councilors in the latest action.

Reynolds and McKinley said they will be represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

The Owasso couple, both of whom are Cherokee Nation citizens, are fighting to have their marriage recognized by the tribe after other attempts to file their license were rejected. The couple has said their marriage is not infringing on the rights of others within the tribe.

Reynolds and McKinley have been in the middle of a complex battle over tribal law since they filed for a marriage certificate in May 2004. The couple filed for a marriage certificate after determining that old marriage laws did not specify gender.

Because no same-sex couple had filed for a license before, the certificate was granted. After a marriage ceremony, the two returned twice to file their completed paperwork, but were turned away each time.

Tribal judicial officials soon called for a moratorium on all marriage licenses, regardless of sex. Before that ban ran out, Hembree sued the couple.

Members of the tribe’s Judicial Appeals Tribunal will render a judgment in the case.

If allowed to file their marriage license, the women will be the only same-sex couple to be registered with the Cherokee Nation. Oklahoma does not recognize same-sex marriages.