The U.S. Supreme Court has inched open the door to hearing a series of gay-marriage cases from states including Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana.
The high court has formally added gay marriage cases to the justices' agenda for their closed-door conference on Sept. 29.
The action Wednesday does not mean that the court will decide that day to hear state appeals of lower court rulings that struck down bans on same-sex marriage.
But the late September conference will be the first time the justices have the issue before them. The meeting will be the justices' first since late June.
Several states have banned gay marriage -- and seen those bans overturned by courts. In Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wisconsin, the states appealed the decision to overturn the ban.
That has left gay marriage on hold there, until a higher court weighs in.
The justices could put off deciding whether to take up gay marriage until January and still be able to issue a decision by late June.
