SAN DIEGO -- More than two dozen San Diego clergy members who support same-sex marriage have signed a brief asking the state Supreme Court to overturn California's ban, it was reported Thursday.

The local clergy, ranging from Rabbi Laurie Coskey of the union for Reform Judaism to the Rev. Scott Richardson of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, signed the brief submitted to the court Wednesday, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Declaring themselves on the side of justice and civil rights, several ministers gathered with about 50 supporters at a morning service in Hillcrest Wednesday to celebrate their stand, the newspaper reported.

"We are here today to witness to the fact that not all religious leaders oppose gay and lesbian marriage," the Rev. Arvid Straube told the Union-Tribune. Straube is the senior minister of First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, where Wednesday's service was held.

The announcement came a week after San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders reversed his stand and backed the city Council's vote to join several other California cities in signing a friend-of-the-court brief asking the state high court to reverse California's ban on same-sex marriage.

The issue is particularly divisive in religious communities because some view homosexuality as sinful. The Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were among supporters of a successful campaign in 2000 barring homosexual marriages.