A federal judge ruled yesterday that Colorado’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional.

However, US District Judge Raymond Moore postponed the ruling until August 25, by which time the Supreme Court will have decided the issue.

Judge Moore found in favour of six couples, who filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s 2006 constitutional amendment which defined marriage as “a union between one man and one woman”.

The Colorado ruling became the third this week declaring a state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, following similar decisions in Florida and Oklahoma, reports The Guardian.

During her summation to the court, Mari Newman (main picture), the attorney representing the couples, compared same-sex marriage opponents to the former Alabama Governor George C Wallace, who tried to prevent the integration of black students at the University of Alabama in 1963.

“I think it’s fair to say that in this topic, those who are opposing marriage equality are ultimately going to be viewed like George Wallace standing on the schoolhouse steps trying to keep people out,” she said.