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A US federal appeals court struck down a California law Tuesday that strips gays and lesbians of the right to marry, in the latest round in America's long-running battle over same-sex marriage.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court judge's ruling that an amendment to the California state constitution banning same-sex marriage violated principles of due process and equal protection under the law.

Gay marriage was briefly authorized in California in 2008, but later banned by a referendum on what was known as Proposition 8, which rewrote the state's constitution to restrict marriage to unions between a man and a woman.

On Tuesday, the three-judge appeals panel in San Francisco ruled 2-1 that a lower court had properly declared the ban a violation of the US Constitution.

The ban had violated equality laws "to target a minority group and withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing so," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the majority opinion.

"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California," the opinion said. "The constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort."

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Randy Smith argued that the government could have a legitimate interest in preventing same-sex couples from marrying.

The ruling was relatively narrow in scope and did not address whether gays and lesbians have a broader constitutional right to marry.

California's Attorney General Kamala Harris applauded the decision, calling it "a victory for fairness, a victory for equality and a victory for justice."

The decision did not give gay and lesbian couples the immediate right to wed as the ban remains effectively in force until the US Supreme Court rules on a likely final appeal.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, welcomed the decision, saying same-sex couples should be "able to share in the celebration and responsibilities of marriage."

"People from every background and every circumstance get this; they understand because being able to marry the one you love and care for your family are shared values that strike at the very core of who we are as a people," Carey said.

Joe Solmonese, president of Human Rights Campaign, said the decision overturns a "hateful law," and added: "This monumental decision affirms what we all know to be true: our constitution exists to protect the basic civil rights of all Americans -- gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender."

All three judges agreed that the federal judge who previously found the voter-approved ban unconstitutional had no obligation to disclose that he was in a long-term gay relationship or recuse himself from the case.

Gay marriage is legal in six states so far -- Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York as well as in the capital city Washington -- and is a hot-button political issue nationally.

At the White House, President Barack Obama's spokesman Jay Carney declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but noted that the president has "long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny... rights and benefits to same-sex couples."

Gerald Wilkerson, president of the California Catholic Conference, said it was disappointed and hoped for a different view if, as expected, the appeal process ends up before the US Supreme Court.

"Marriage between one man and one woman has been -- and always will be -- the most basic building block of the family and of our society," Wilkerson said.

"In the end, through sound legal reasoning, we believe the court will see this as well and uphold the will of the voters as expressed in Proposition 8."

David Cruz, a University of Southern California law professor, said the ruling may not be the final word on same-sex marriage rights.

He said the ruling was "very narrow and pretty much only applies to California's Proposition 8, and doesn't reach any other marriage restriction in the country."

AFP