The U.S. Supreme Court will decide on the issue of same-sex marriage later on this year.

On Friday, the justices stated that they will review an appellate court's decision to uphold the ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky. Although the ban on gay marriage was struck down in all four states by district court judges, their decisions were later reversed by a panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

As a result, all four cases will be consolidated and heard together in April. The justices will then decide whether the constitutional right to equal protection applies to same-sex couples and if states are required to recognize gay couples who marry legally in another state, reports NPR.

The court is expected to issue a decision by late June.

Both gay marriage and traditional marriage advocates applauded the high court's decision to intervene in these cases.

"We've reached the moment of truth - the facts are clear, the arguments have been heard by dozens of courts, and now the nine justices of the Supreme Court have an urgent opportunity to guarantee fairness for countless families, once and for all," said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, according to USA Today.

Likewise, Tony Perkins, president of the conservative group Family Research Council, issued a statement saying: "The U.S. Supreme Court now has the opportunity to issue a long-overdue ruling to restore the freedom of the people to uphold marriage in their state laws as the union of a man and a woman. Lower court judges have robbed millions of people of their voice and vote on society's most fundamental relationship - marriage."

The case in Michigan that will be heard by the Supreme Court will determine if state officials are required to recognize 300 same-sex marriages that were performed in March during a brief window when the state's ban on gay marriage was temporarily lifted by a court order.

Hundreds of same-sex couples got married the day after a trial judge overturned the state's gay marriage ban on March 21, 2014, based on a voter referendum in 2004. However, an appeals court then suspended the decision, which restored the gay-marriage ban and blocked additional marriages.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith declared that the couples who wed during "only a few hours" on March 22, 2014 are "lawfully married," reports Bloomberg News. The judge, however, put a hold on the decision for three weeks, pending an appeal by the state.