ANCHORAGE -(AP)- A Superior Court judge has ruled that the city of Anchorage and the state of Alaska do not have to extend benefits to gay or lesbian partners of employees and retirees.

Judge Stephanie Joannides ruled Friday that same-sex couples fall into the same legal category as unmarried male-female couples and that neither is entitled to city or state benefits under current law.

The ruling marks a disappointing loss for nine same-sex couples who sued, demanding health insurance and pension benefits in 1999.

The lawsuit, filed by the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, represents the interests of eight lesbian couples in which at least one partner works for the state. The other couple consists of two gay men, one of whom is an Anchorage city employee.

Lin Davis, a state Labor Department employee, says she has earned the right to add to her health coverage her partner of 14 years, Maureen Longworth. A family physician, Longworth said her health-care provider didn't cover specialist care she required in Seattle several years ago. Since then, she has paid out-of-pocket expenses of more than $15,000.

The state argued its policy was intended to save money. State health insurance costs roughly $650 a month per employee. The premium doesn't change if more people are added, officials have said, but premiums could rise over time if domestic partners become eligible because the number of claims would go up.

The plaintiffs in the case argued that, like married couples, they intend to stay together for life and are financially and emotionally responsible for each other.

The couples were denied benefits because, unlike heterosexual couples, they don't have the option of getting married, Alaska Civil Liberties Union attorney Allison Mendel said. Voters in 1998 overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.