DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a county clerk in Boulder to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, halting the practice a month after a handful of county clerks had defied a ban in the State Constitution.

The order came as the state’s Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments over whether it should enforce the state’s law against same-sex unions as myriad lawsuits challenging the bans here and across the country churn toward the United States Supreme Court.

It was the latest twist in a legal saga over same-sex marriage in Colorado, and the move disappointed advocates and same-sex couples who have celebrated a streak of victories in the state and across the country. The most recent of those wins came on Monday, when a federal appeals panel overturned Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage.

In Colorado, state and federal judges handed down rulings this month declaring the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.