WATCH LIVE: Appeals Court Hears Marriage Cases

Same-sex couples seeking marriage equality in three states will get their moment in federal appellate court today, as a three-judge panel on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears arguments for and against marriage equality in Idaho, Nevada, and Hawaii.

The proceedings, set to begin at 1 p.m. Pacific in Courtroom One of the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit, will be televised through the court's livestream, available here and embedded below.

Equality on Trial reports that oral argument for each case will vary in length, with the Idaho challenge, Latta v. Otter, heard over an hour, with 30 minutes for each side, while attorneys opposing and defending the Nevada ban in Sevick v. Sandoval will have 15 minutes each. Nevada's top-ranking legal officials have withdrawn their support for the ban, though the state's Democratic attorney general and Republican governor are still listed as formal defendants. In the absence of a legal defense on behalf of the state, Nevada's Coalition for the Protection of Marriage has stepped in as an intervenor to defend the existing law. Attorneys from Lambda Legal will be arguing against the ban, on behalf of same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry.

The Hawaii case, Jackson v. Abercrombie, will be heard for just 20 minutes, as the attorneys make the case that the lawsuit -- which sought to establish marriage equality -- is or is not moot since Hawaii's legislature enacted the freedom to marry last year.

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Advocates are optimistic for a positive ruling from the randomly selected three-judge panel, composed of judges Stephen Reinhardt, Ronald Gould, and Marsha Berzon. All three judges have either authored pro-LGBT decisions in the past or signed on to pro-equality rulings. Dig deeper into the judicial history of this panel with The Advocate's exclusive report.

Arguments will begin at 1 p.m. Pacific, when the video below will begin broadcasting audio and video from inside the courthouse.