Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has denied a request from Proposition 8 supporters in California to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in the nation's most populous state.

Kennedy turned away the request on Sunday with no additional comment, according to Fox News.

Same-sex marriage opponents asked him to step in on Saturday, a day after the federal appeals court in San Francisco allowed same-sex marriages to go forward. Numerous weddings were performed at San Francisco City Hall following the court decisions.

The opponents said the appeals court had acted about three weeks too soon. Proposition 8 supporters could continue their efforts to halt gay marriage by filing their request with another Supreme Court justice, reported Fox.

The decision means same-sex marriages can resume in the state.

Gay marriage foes had filed the motion Saturday asking the high court to step in, less than 24 hours after the state started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling earlier in the week. 

That ruling, on California's Proposition 8 gay marriage ban, was expected to clear the way for the state to resume issuing gay marriage licenses. 

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriage to return to the nation's most populous state by ruling 5-4 on Wednesday that the sponsors of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex unions lacked authority to defend the measure in court. 

Also Wednesday, the Supreme Court overturned the federal law that prevented the government from awarding federal benefits to same sex couples.