A second judge on Friday struck down Florida's ban on gay marriage.

Judge Sarah Zabel of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Miami ordered Miami-Dade County to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Zabel stayed her order.

Shortly after the ruling, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a notice of appeal.

Zabel compared the state's 2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples to laws prohibiting interracial marriages.

“[T]his Court finds that the only distinction between Loving and the instant case is that the instant case deals with laws that deny the fundamental freedom to marry based upon people's sexual orientation rather than their race,” Zabel wrote in her 36-page ruling.

Florida's laws “improperly infringe upon the Plaintiffs' ability to exercise their fundamental right to marry the person of their choice, and upon their liberty interests regarding personal autonomy, family integrity, association, dignity. They also unlawfully discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation,” she wrote.

Plaintiffs in the case – six gay couples and Equality Florida Institute – are being represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the law firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt.

Earlier this month, Monroe County Circuit Judge Luis Garcia declared the marriage ban unconstitutional. Bondi has also appealed this case.

Four additional challenges to Florida's ban are wending their way through state and federal courts.

According to a 2012 Washington Post poll, a majority (54%) of Floridians support marriage equality, while 33 percent remain opposed.