A federal on Thursday ended Mississippi's restraint on adoption by same-sex couples, saying it violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The order by U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan came in response to a lawsuit filed in August 2015 on behalf of four legally wedded same-sex couples, two of whom are raising children, as well as the Campaign for Southern Equality and the Family Equality Council.
The plaintiffs argued that legally united couples were discriminated by the Mississippi restriction on adoption by same-sex couples. Same sex marriage was legalized in the state in 2014.
The lawsuit came barely weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that same sex marriage bans are unconstitutional across the country.
In his order, Judge Jordan followed the opinion by the Supreme Court that ended the same-sex marriage bans.
The judge stated that it appears "highly unlikely that the same court that held a state cannot ban gay marriage because it would deny benefits - expressly including the right to adopt - would then conclude that married gay couples can be denied that very same benefit."