Nebraska's Same-Sex Marriage Ban Struck Down

Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon has struck down Nebraska's same-sex marriage ban saying, 'all relevant state officials are ordered to treat same-sex couples the same as different sex couples in the context of processing a marriage license or determining the rights, protections, obligations or benefits of marriage.'

From Judge Bataillon's ruling:

"The State clearly has the right to encourage couples to marry and provide support for one another. However, those laws must be enforced equally and without respect to gender," U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon wrote. "It is time to bring this unequal provision to an end."

Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry issued this statement:

Every day loving and committed couples are denied the freedom to marry in the decreasing number of states that continue to discriminate against same-sex couples and their families is a day of tangible hardships and indignity. Fortunately, Nebraska may soon no longer be one of those discriminating states, thanks to today's strong ruling from yet another court -- the 65th in the past two years -- affirming the freedom to marry. It is time for the U.S. Supreme Court to bring the country to national resolution and end marriage discrimination for all Americans.

Nebraska would become the 38th state in the US to have marriage equality.

The state of Nebraska immediately filed an appeal with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The order takes effect March 9 at 8 a.m.