A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals has put a stay on same sex marriages in California, reversing a ruling by Judge Walker that said they could proceed while the case was appealed.

This means no marriages until the courts review the decision, though the panel also set the case for an expedited review, setting a hearing for December 6th to determine if those supporting Proposition 8 have standing to appeal.

This could mean a ruling by early 2011 (I am assuming between the holidays and the time it takes to review that we won’t see a ruling in 2010). If the court rules they do not have standing then it would probably be appealed to the Supreme Court, and if they ruled no standing then the case would end.

However even assuming an early 2011 ruling from the appeals court an appeal to the US Supreme Court might not make the 2010-11 calendar as they usually set that in the fall. So we could be looking at fall 2011 or Spring 2012 before the standing issue is resolved.

If they decide there is standing, then it could be a year or more longer.

So while progress is being made, it is a long way from being done.