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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― In the wake of the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8, the state's ban on same-sex marriage, two couples are pursuing a new tactic with a federal court lawsuit brought on their behalf by two high-profile lawyers.

A lesbian couple from Berkeley and a gay couple from Burbank filed the lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesdy.

But a coalition of gay rights groups said Wednesday that the federal same-sex marriage lawsuit was premature and indicated that they would rather work through state legislatures and voters to win wedding rights.

The federal lawsuit argues that Proposition 8 violates the U.S. constitutional guarantee of equal protection and due process.

The couples are represented by prominent attorneys Theodore Olson of Washington, D.C., and David Boies of Armonk, N.Y., who argued on opposite sides of the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential election.

On Wednesday, the attorneys filed a motion asking for a hearing on July 2 before Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco on their bid for a preliminary injunction blocking Proposition 8.

Olson said he hoped the suit would wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A favorable ruling there would allow gays and lesbians to get married in every state, just as the court's 1967 ruling in a Virginia case outlawed prohibitions on interracial marriage and said the freedom to marry is a "vital personal right."

"There will be many people who will think this is not the time to go to federal," Olson said during a news conference in Los Angeles Wednesday. "Both David and I have studied the court for more years than probably either one of us would like to admit. "We think we know what we are doing."

Boies agreed: "Reasonable minds can differ, but when you have people being denied civil rights today, I think it is impossible as lawyers and as an American to say, 'No, you have to wait, now is not the right time.' I think if we had done that in prior civil rights battles, we would not be where we are."

Until now, battles over same-sex marriage in California have centered on the state constitution. The California Supreme Court last year ruled in a 4-3 decision that denying same-sex couples the right to wed violated the state constitution's guarantee of equal treatment.

An estimated 18,000 gay couples married in the months preceding the passage in November of Proposition 8, which changed the state constitution to say that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

While upholding the ban Tuesday, ruling 6-1 that Proposition 8 was within voters' power to amend the state constitution, the justices said the marriages conducted while such unions were allowed could stand.

The court also said same-sex couples still have the right to civil unions and the law does not "entirely repeal or abrogate" the right to a protected relationship.

The new federal lawsuit filed Wednesday is based on separate federal constitutional rights.

The plaintiffs are Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley, who have been together for nine years and have four sons, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Burbank.

Both couples said they tried to get married last week, but were denied marriage licenses by their county clerk's offices because of Proposition 8.

"We and our relationships should be treated equally under the law. Our goal is to advance the cause of equality for all Americans," the two couples said in a statement issued Wednesday.

However, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and other national organizations issued a statement saying they think the U.S. Supreme Court is not ready to rule in their favor on the issue.

"In our view, the best way to win marriage equality nationally is to continue working state by state, not to bring premature federal challenges that pose a very high risk of setting a negative U.S. Supreme Court precedent," said Shannon Minter, legal director of National Center for Lesbian Rights.

But Chad Griffin, a gay political consultant and former aide to President Bill Clinton, said he first approached Olson about taking on the federal case several months ago while the state Supreme Court was still considering the legal challenges to Proposition 8.

"For even one couple to live through even one more day in state-sanctioned second-class citizenship is too long," Griffin said.

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