DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ The Iowa Supreme Court says it will hear arguments in a case challenging the state’s law banning gay marriage.

The court on Friday announced it will hear oral arguments in the case on Dec. 9. Both sides will be given 30 minutes to present their arguments.

The hearing follows Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson’s Aug. 31, 2007, ruling that the state’s law defining marriage as only between a man and woman was unconstitutional. The ruling stood long enough for one gay couple to get married before Hanson stayed his decision later in the day.

The national civil rights group Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit in Polk County in 2006 challenging the state’s marriage laws on behalf of six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa.