This State Was One of the First to Enact Gay Marriage Ban. It Just Became the Latest to See Ban Struck Down.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (TheBlaze/AP) — A federal judge has struck down Alaska's ban on gay marriages.

The ban violates the U.S. constitutional guarantee of due process and equal protection, U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess ruled on Sunday.

The state could appeal to the 9th Circuit Court, where chances of it winning were slim since the federal appeals court already has ruled against Idaho and Nevada, which made similar arguments.

Five same-sex couples had asked the state of Alaska to overturn a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998 that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.

The following report ran just prior to the judge's ruling: