HICAGO - The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday against Wisconsin's same-sex marriage ban.
Richard Posner, a judge for the court, wrote in the decision that Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage wasn't practical.
"As we have been at pains to explain," Posner says, "the grounds advanced by Indiana and Wisconsin for their discriminatory policies are not only conjectural, they are totally implausible."
MORE: Click here to read the court's full decision
"If no social benefit is conferred by a tradition," the decision continues, "and it is written into law and it discriminates against a number of people and does them harm beyond just offending them, it is not just a harmless anachronism; it is a violation of the equal protection clause."
The Wisconsin branch of the ACLU reacted positively to Thursday's news on Twitter:
BREAKING: 7th Circuit decides in our favor on #FreedomToMarry #LOVEWINSWI!!
— ACLU of Wisconsin (@ACLUofWisconsin) September 4, 2014
Judge Barbara Crabb ruled against Wisconsin's ban earlier this year, and marriages quickly began around the state. After a stay was eventually put into place on Crabb's ruling, the case went to the 7th Circuit Court.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele praised the court's decision, saying it was a "historic step forward" for marriage equality.
"For too long, loving couples have been told they cannot marry, this ruling moves us closer to true equality in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the United States," Abele said.
Though the court ruled against Wisconsin's ban, it did not lift the lower court's stay on issuing marriage licenses. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's office said Thursday "the status quo has not changed" after the latest court decision.