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The decision striking down Wisconsin's gay marriage ban will not be enforced until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the matter, a federal appeals court in Chicago said Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, four same-sex couples sued in federal court in Madison seeking state recognition of marriages that took place over the summer.

The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals blocked its own order in the Wisconsin case two days after it blocked its order in a similar case out of Indiana. Those moves by the 7th Circuit were widely expected because of an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court that showed a majority of justices want the marriage bans around the country to remain in place while they consider whether to hear one of the lawsuits against those bans.

Last week, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore Wisconsin's gay marriage ban, arguing that the case that began in Madison offers the justices the best vehicle for resolving the historic question of whether bans on same-sex unions violate the U.S. Constitution.

The 7th Circuit said Wednesday that it would let that Supreme Court appeal play out.

"The stay will terminate automatically if the certiorari petition (to the Supreme Court) is denied or will terminate upon the judgment of the Supreme Court if the certiorari petition is granted," the 7th Circuit's one-page order reads.

The 7th Circuit's action comes amid a stream of lawsuits over bans in other states and arrives two weeks after the appellate court unanimously struck down bans in Wisconsin and Indiana.

Last week's filing by Van Hollen gave the Supreme Court a chance to debate taking Wisconsin's case in its private conference on Sept. 29. In its upcoming session, the Supreme Court also could hear one of the cases from Indiana, Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma — states where similar bans have been struck down by both a federal trial court judge and the corresponding appellate court.

Officials in other states are making similar arguments asking for the high court to take their case.

Amid a wave of litigation nationally, eight same-sex couples this year sued to overturn the 2006 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution banning gay marriage and civil unions. U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Crabb in Madison agreed with them in June and struck down the ban but a week later stayed her decision to prevent couples from marrying while state officials pursued their appeal.

Several hundred same-sex couples in Wisconsin married between June 6 and 13 — after Crabb's initial ruling but before she issued the stay. While the matter remains on appeal, Van Hollen and Gov. Scott Walker's administration are not recognizing those marriages.

In response, four of those couples sued Wednesday for that state recognition.

The lawsuit says that during the week in question about 500 gay and lesbian couples married. The decision by state officials not to recognize those unions places "the plaintiffs and their families in an intolerable state of legal limbo," the lawsuit charges.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice declined to comment.