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A fifth judge in Florida has struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage, but his decision impacts the whole state. Matt Galka sat down with the two couples that brought the case to federal court.

It was a celebration at Jim Brenner’s house.  Brenner and his partner Charles Jones were the original plaintiffs in a federal court case against the state’s ban on gay marriage.

Couple Stephen Schlairet and Ozzie Russ joined the suit soon after. Both couples have been together for more than 20 years.

“We’re not asking for anything that other people don’t already have. We’re not asking for anything special. We’re not asking for anything out of the ordinary. We just want the same things that everyone else has,” said Brenner.

A federal judge sided with the four men and struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage – the fifth Florida judge to do so. Every other ruling only had local impact – the federal ruling means the ban has been declared unconstitutional statewide.

“I think there’s the question and people are saying that the courts are deciding “do I like gay people or do I not like gay people.” That’s not the issue, the issue is about whether or not the constitution – what it means when it says all people are created equal,” said Schlairet.

No same-sex couples will be getting marriage licenses in the state yet. The judge’s ruling allowed for an appeals process.

In 2008, voters put into the constitution that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman. That’s why the Attorney General says she has appealed the four other rulings in the state.  Now she says states need an ultimate decision.

“Instead of having all these different rulings from different judges, not only from Florida but throughout every state in the country, lets let the US Supreme Court decide it, sooner than later we hope, and have finality on all sides,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this week.

The hope from the victors in the latest ruling is that the US Supreme court acts by the end of their upcoming session in June of 2015.

Marriage licenses in Florida will be put on hold until the US Court of Appeals rules on the decision. The timetable for that is unknown.