Gavel-Court-LegalNORFOLK, Va. (AP) _ A federal judge has ruled that Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen’s decision Thursday makes Virginia the second state in the South to have a ban on gay marriages overturned. It comes the day after a similar ruling in Kentucky and following similar rulings in federal courts in Utah and Oklahoma.

Wright stayed her decision until an appeals court rules, meaning that gay couples will not be able to marry in the state immediately.