Four months after Californians voted 52 percent to 48 percent to amend the state constitution to rescind the right to marriage for gays, a Field Poll finds voters in the state evenly divided on the issue, with 48 percent favoring a new amendment to protect gay marriage rights and 47 percent opposing such an amendment. Five percent are undecided.

In July 2008, four months before the election, the Field Poll found that 51 percent of California voters favored gay marriage, while 42 percent planned to vote to rescind the right.

Last week, the California Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by supporters of gay marriage seeking to void Proposition 8, the amendment that rescinded marriage rights for gays in November. The court sent strong signals that it intends to let Prop 8 stand because it expresses the will of the voters.

Less clear, however, was whether the court would rule in favor of a suit brought by anti-gay operatives, and argued before the court by Clinton prosecutor Ken Starr, that would void the 18,000 marriages conducted during the six months gay marriage was legal in the state.

Legal observers suggest that if the court allows the 18,000 marriages to stand, it would set grounds for appeals in the federal courts on the grounds that allowing one group of gays to be married but not the rest violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause.

Meanwhile, organizers at Equality California, the state’s principal gay rights group, have yet to decide when to float a counter-amendment to Prop 8. In advance of the campaign, EQCA has announced plans to do intensive outreach to communities of color and faith, many of whom voted both for Pres. Obama and Prop 8 last year.