Otter on Tuesday vowed to appeal, arguing that Idaho voters had in 2006 “exercised their fundamental right” by approving an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“Today’s decision, while disappointing, is a small setback in a long-term battle that will end at the U.S. Supreme Court,” Otter said in a statement.

Dale sided with the couples in finding that the state’s marriage laws intentionally discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and thus “do not survive any applicable level of constitutional scrutiny.”

She dismissed claims by Idaho’s governor that heterosexual marriage focused on children’s welfare rather than the “emotional interests of adults” and protected religious liberty.