INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): The plaintiffs in the lawsuit that could legalize gay marriage in Indiana have gathered at City Market for a “bon voyage” rally, a day ahead of arguments before a federal appeals court.

About 60 people turned out to support three of the couples who got married during a three-day window between a judge‘s ruling invalidating the state‘s same-sex marriage ban, and a stay of that ruling by the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Similar rallies were scheduled for Lafayette and Munster. Employees of the management company run by Melody Betterman-Layne and her wife Tara came to cheer them on.

Betterman-Layne says they hesitated to dive into the legal fight until they could ask their employees if they‘d be comfortable with the resulting spotlight. She says the answer was a resounding yes.

The Betterman-Laynes and other couples at the rally argue they should have the same right as heterosexual couples to make their commitment official. A string of federal courts has ruled against gay-marriage bans this year, but Solicitor General Tom Fisher‘s brief to the appeals court notes courts in Nevada and Nebraska have ruled states are entitled to set their own policy on the issue.