In California, marriages are no longer defined as a union between a man and a woman. Today in a 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, citing discrimination against same-sex couples. The ruling makes California the second state to legalize gay marriage; same-sex couples have been able to wed in Massachusetts since 2004.

The ruling stated that the state law’s language “limiting the designation of marriage to a ‘union between a man and a woman’ is unconstitutional.” The court ruled that the state must allow marriage to be available to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. The LA Times reports that the ruling will affect more than 100,000 same-sex couples living in California.

“I’m incredibly excited to see this decision, as a lesbian and as a California resident,” said NU Rainbow Alliance co-President Jessica Kaiser. “And it’s obvious that it’s exciting for many of my friends in the LGBT community–I’ve already received 3 text messages about it!”

But, she said, this doesn’t mean the end of the fight. “I’d like to be optimistic about what this decision means for California and for the rest of the country, but I think even in California this will be met with a lot of opposition,” Kaiser said. “This is the first step down that road [to greater equality], and I’m glad we’re taking it.”

On the other side of the fence, those in favor of the ban were not pleased with the decision. Petitions are already circulating among California groups to introduce a November ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution to ban gay marriage, and an appeal of the California court’s decision to the federal Supreme Court is likely.

The California state legislature has twice voted to authorize same-sex marriage, but the Governator has vetoed both times. Four states—Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Connecticut—allow civil unions, and more than a dozen other states give gay couples some legal rights. Twenty-seven states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.