ST. LOUIS (AP) – A judge in St. Louis has ruled that Missouri’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison issued the ruling Wednesday. He heard arguments in the case on Sept. 29.

The city of St. Louis issued marriage licenses in June to four same-sex couples, setting up a court case over the state’s 2004 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Assistant Attorney General Jeremiah Morgan argued that 71 percent of Missourians voted for the referendum defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

St. Louis City Counselor Winston Calvert countered that the existing law treats same-sex couples as “second-class citizens.”