Another ban bites the dust: Wisconsin has become the latest state to move closer to marriage equality after a judge struck down the state's constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage, calling it unconstitutional.

U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Crabb handed down her ruling at around 4 p.m. local time, and county clerks began issuing marriage licenses an hour later in Milwaukee and Madison. According to The Associated Press, couples began lining up for marriage licenses as soon as the ruling was announced, including pastor Andrew Warner who was hoping to marry his longtime partner after first marrying couples at his Milwaukee church.

As more couples get licenses and marry, there continues to be some confusion, the AP reported, because the judge's ruling was not clear on when the marriages can begin. The state's Republican Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen has called for an emergency stay on the ruling and added that the ruling did not make marriage equality a reality.

The AP reported that the judge's ruling asked the plaintiffs what tspecifically they want to block in the law and then said she would later decide whether or not to put her decision on hold while its being appealed. However, this new ruling has continues to push LGBT rights forward.

"This case is not about whether marriages between same-sex couples are consistent or inconsistent with the teachings of a particular religion, whether such marriages are moral or immoral or whether they are something that should be encouraged or discouraged," Crabb wrote in the Wisconsin ruling. "It is not even about whether the plaintiffs in this case are as capable as opposite-sex couples of maintaining a committed and loving relationship or raising a family together.

"Quite simply, this case is about liberty and equality, the two cornerstones of the rights protected by the United States Constitution," she continued.

Following the news of the ruling, the president of the LGBT rights group Freedom to Marry, Evan Wolfson, released a statement supporting the news:

"Today's decision out of Wisconsin marks the twentieth consecutive ruling by a federal or state judge since last year that a discriminatory state marriage ban is unconstitutional. Across the country, the courts agree: same-sex couples and their families need the dignity of marriage, and anti-marriage laws are indefensible. With over 70 marriage cases now making their way through the courts, today's decision in Wisconsin underscores that all of America is ready for the freedom to marry. It's time now for the Supreme Court to bring resolution nationwide."

NPR also reported that North Dakota now has an active case against that state's same-sex marriage ban, meaning that every state in the Union has an active case for marriage equality or already has legalized same-sex marriage.