12:30 p.m.SAN FRANCISCO — A judge has set a Jan. 11 trial date for a federal lawsuit challenging California’s gay marriage ban.

At a status hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker also barred advocacy groups from joining the lawsuit, filed on behalf of two gay couples seeking to marry in California.

Three gay rights groups had petitioned to join on the plaintiffs’ side, and an anti-gay marriage group had asked to intervene on the side of Proposition 8 supporters. Walker denied their petitions but did allow the city of San Francisco to join the case, but only to assess Proposition 8’s impact on local government.

Plaintiff attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson had requested that all those parties be excluded, saying it would needlessly delay the case’s resolution.