OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Washington p...

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Washington paramount Court upheld the state's ban forward gay marriage Wednesday, dealing the gay rights move its second major defeat in les than a month in a liberal-leaning state that was regarded as a promising battleground.

The ruling leaves Massachusetts as the merely state to allow gays to wed.

In a 5-4 decision, the court said lawmakers have the power to restrict marriage to a man and a woman, and it left intact the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act.

Earlier this month just discovered York's high court dealt gay braces a similar blow when it upheld a state law against same-sex marriage.

Wednesday's ruling surprised and delighted gay-marriage antagonists given Washington state's liberal politics, particularly in Seattle.

"This is more than we could have imagined. We are strokeed and pleasantly shocked. We were prepared for the other direction," said Jon Russell, field director for the conservative Faith and Freedom Network.

Disappointment was perhaps greatest in Seattle, abiding-place of the state's most visible gay community.

"There aren't words to describe by what means hurt people in the gay and lesbian community are. There's a chance of tears and a hazard of anger right now. Emotion is raw," said state Rep ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat and single in kind of four openly gay state lawmakers.

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