RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)ong> - (AP) Same-sex couples and their families who want Gov. Pat McCrory to keep out of pending litigation challenging North Carolina's gay marriage ban are bringing names of their allies to his offices.

Gay rights advocates planned Wednesday to deliver petitions to McCrory's office in Raleigh and regional offices in Charlotte and near Asheville. Equality North Carolina says more than 10,000 people have signed the petitions asking McCrory not to defend the 2012 constitutional amendment approved by voters limiting marriage to a man and a woman.

The petitions come a month after pastors rallying at the Capitol asked McCrory to use his powers to defend the amendment. That happened before Attorney General Roy Cooper announced his office would no longer defend the ban after a similar Virginia prohibition was ruled unconstitutional.