U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon banned Nebraska’s constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage on Monday. Beginning March 9 the state must treat heterosexual and homosexual couples the same. 
 The ban was instated in 2000 and restricted marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships among same-sex couples.The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska sued the state in November 2014 on behalf of several same-sex couples.
According to CNN Bataillon deemed the ban to be an infringement upon the equal rights of citizens in Nebraska. Judge Bataillon previously lifted the ban in 2005 but a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it in 2006. 
Less than an hour after Monday’s decision state officials appealed the ruling to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The court is scheduled to hear similar arguments regarding same sex marriage from Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota in May. 
Last year in Louisiana the state ban against same-sex marriage was challenged after a state judge ruled it unconstitutional. However a U.S. District Court judge backed the ban and it currently remains in place.
A ruling is pending from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit who heard arguments in January regarding Louisiana’s appeal of the state court’s decision. 
The U.S. Supreme Court stated in January they would be deciding whether same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry in the United States in late June.