Gay couples in Montana will be able to get marriage licenses today after a federal judge threw out a state ban on same-sex marriage.

Two counties, Missoula and Park, started issuing marriage licenses yesterday afternoon and the remaining are expected to follow suit today, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ruled that Montana’s ban on gay marriage violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. He wrote that while not everyone will celebrate the ruling as it overturns a state amendment approved by Montana voters, the U.S. Constitution’s measures to protect the minority take precedent.

Tim Fox, Montana’s Republican attorney general, will appeal the decision, although he won’t seek to block the marriages that will take place until an appeal is heard. He said it is his duty to defend Montana’s constitution until all appeals are heard.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) cheered the decision, and will hold celebrations at county courthouses across the state with officiants available for gay couples who want to get married right away.

The ruling comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down in September gay marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada. Montana is also part of the 9th circuit, leading Judge Morris to cite that ruling in his opinion. He said that it is time for Montana to join other states in the circuit and recognize that gay marriage bans are unconstitutional.

Montana was among three states — including Kansas and South Carolina — that vowed to continue its fight in the court system against same-sex marriage despite federal appeals court rulings that ruling that gay couples have a right to get married.

In South Carolina, the state attorney journal asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block same-sex unions as gay couples sought marriage licenses.

Up until yesterday, gay marriage was legal in 32 states, as well as parts of Kansas and Missouri and the District of Columbia.

The Montana amendment banning gay marriage was passed in 2004, but it joined one of many similar laws that have fallen around the country after the Supreme Court struck down a significant portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year.