A Moscow court on Tuesday ruled against two lesbians seeking to become Russia's first legally married gay couple.

Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko said the Tverskoi District Court upheld a decision by the city's civil registry that said Russian law defined marriage as between a woman and a man.

"We want recognition of our relationship by society and the state. We are a family already, we live together and share household chores," Shipitko said. "We also would like to have children. That is why we want legal recognition of our union."

Nikolai Alexeyev, a longtime Russian gay rights activist who is serving as the women's lawyer, told reporters that they plan to fight the ruling.

"We understand quite well that it is a long road that must be taken before such unions will be recognized. But I have no doubt this recognition will come," he said.

The two women said they planned to fly to Canada later this month to marry and then return to Russia, in a bid to force authorities to recognize the marriage.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in the 1990s, but many Russians are vehemently opposed to expansion of gay rights or gay-rights demonstrations.

Photo:  Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko smile in a court room in Moscow.