A Kentucky judge on Thursday struck down the state's ban on gay marriage.

Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate sided with two Lexington couples who were denied marriage licenses in 2013, saying that the ban violates the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

According to the AP, Wingate stayed his order until the Supreme Court rules on a similar federal challenge to Kentucky's ban and those in three other states.

Justices will hear oral arguments in a case challenging bans in four states – Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee – on April 28, with a ruling expected in June. Federal judges struck down the bans, but an appeals court overturned those decisions. Plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Kentucky couples were denied licenses in Fayette County, the state's second-most populous county.