The highest court in Massachusetts said Tuesday that the state cannot deny same-sex couples the right to marry, possibly paving the way for the state to become the first to legalize gay marriage.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state may not "deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry."

It has ordered the legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days, but stopped short of allowing marriage licenses to the couples who brought forth the case.

Massachusetts legislature is already considering a constitutional amendment that would legally define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The case was filed by seven same-sex couples who sued the U.S. Department of Public Health in 2001 after their requests for marriage licences were denied. The lawsuit was dismissed in May 2002 by a Superior Court judge, and the couples appealed.

Same-sex marriage is forbidden in the United States. However, Vermont allows same-sex civil unions, following a similar ruling by the state's Supreme Court in 1999. The civil unions give same-sex couples most of the legal rights and protections of marriage.

In other rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state sodomy laws in June.

Canada is slightly ahead of the United States. The federal government has given draft legislation on same-sex marriage to the Supreme Court of Canada. Ottawa wants the court to make sure the bill guarantees religious freedoms, and is within federal jurisdiction.

The bill was unveiled in the wake of a ruling from the Ontario Appeals Court that paved the way for same-sex marriage in that province. The top court in British Columbia has also struck down the traditional definition of marriage of a union between a man and a woman. Both courts said the definition violates equality rights.