State Rep. Bob McDermott said he is weighing legal options after the Hawaii Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by himself and three individuals challenging the state’s Marriage Equality Act.

Ruling that plaintiffs were not harmed or injured by the 2013 law, Supreme Court justices ruled they had no standing to challenge the statute.

"Although it appears (plaintiffs) have deeply-held objections to same-sex marriage, such moral or ideological disapproval does not constitute a legally cognizable injury sufficient to establish standing," the justices said in the ruling, filed Wednesday.

McDermott said he was not surprised.

"They took the coward’s way out," McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said in an interview. "They punted. They said we don’t have standing.

"They don’t write new law or they don’t interpret the law or they don’t set guidelines based on what happened. The result of this case is it’s as if it never occurred."

Deputy Attorney General Deirdre Marie-Iha applauded the decision.

"This is an exciting time for marriage equality in our country, as we await the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that will govern so many other States," Marie-Iha, who argued on behalf of the state, said in a news release.

"We hope that the United States Supreme Court will recognize, as our Supreme Court did (Wednesday), that those who oppose marriage equality are ‘harmed not at all when others are given the liberty to choose their own life partners and are shown the respect that comes with formal marriage.’"

The lawsuit by McDermott and three others, including the chairman of the Hawaii Christian Coalition, argued the Legislature did not have the authority to pass the law.

During oral arguments in December, plaintiffs’ attorney Shawn Luiz centered his argument around a 1998 constitutional amendment that he said showed voters intended to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples only.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.