Another state has begun issuing same-sex marriage licenses after a St. Louis district court overturned Missouri's same-sex marriage ban. The decision has prompted same-sex couples to file for marriage licenses; however, not all the state's counties have complied with the ruling.

On Wednesday St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex M. Burlison overturned the state's same-sex marriage ban, arguing it violated the 14th amendment's equal protection clause and due process clause, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Any same-sex couple that satisfies all the requirements for marriage under Missouri law, other than being of different sexes, is legally entitled to a marriage license," he said in his decision.

As soon as the ruling was handed down, same-sex couples began receiving marriage licenses in St. Louis, some four months after the city issued its first licenses to same-sex couples, triggering the court case.

The state's argument in favor of the ban did not hold, as the judge wrote "fundamental rights are not dependent on the person seeking to exercise that right."

LGBT activists in the state have welcomed the decision.

"This is a positive move forward for loving same-sex couples in the city of St. Louis," said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. "It is also a win for families throughout Missouri as another discriminatory obstacle is lowered."

However, the state's attorney general, Chris Koster, said he would appeal the decision to the state's supreme court. Nonetheless, he did not request a stay on the decision, allowing couples to continue marrying, but only in St. Louis County.

Counties in other parts of the state have not started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples until a ruling is handed down that applies to them, reports the Associated Press.

So St. Louis city can issue same-sex marriage licenses; the balance of the state has not been affected by that ruling," said association president and Johnson County Recorder of Deeds Jan Jones.

Along with Jackson County, where Kansas City is located, Adair, Boone, Buchanan, Cape Girardeau, Clay, Cole, Greene, Johnson, Marion, Miller, Osage, Jasper and St. Charles counties are also not issuing marriage licenses.