Gay-marriage supporters got even more good news on Sunday, when a federal judge struck down Alaska’s same-sex marriage ban, calling it “a deprivation of basic due process and equal protection principles under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” Approved by voters in 1998, it was one of the first state constitutional amendments to limit marriage to one man and one woman. The move wasn’t a surprise, as Alaska is under the jurisdiction of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which just overturned similar measures in Idaho and Nevada. Alaska is now officially the 30th state where gay marriage is legal, and while the state said it would appeal, officials said they will begin accepting marriage applications from same-sex couples on Monday at 8 a.m.
