“While this is unfortunate news for the citizens that live in the affected states, the hopeful side of this is that the Supreme Court will have no way to dodge marriage equality as an issue any longer,” said Alex Lange, Assistant Director at MSU’s LBGT Resource Center.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit made the 2-1 decision, which overturned lower court rulings in Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky that deemed bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

However, other U.S. federal courts have ruled in direct contradiction with the Sixth Circuit’s decision last week. Because of that, Lange is hopeful that will now give the Supreme Court no choice but to address the debate.

“The Supreme Court needs to wait for there to be a disagreement about law somewhere to take up a case but there hasn’t been that,” Lange said. “Now they have conflicting case law at the same level.”

Multiple media outlets have reported that the United State’s highest court is expected to agree to face the issue soon.

The USA Today last week reported “the Supreme Court won't be able to duck the issue this time.”

Last year, the Supreme Court took on marriage equality — sort of.

It struck down the federal government’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed in 1996, in a 5-4 decision which ruled the act unconstitutional. The Court did not, however, rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans among states.

Lange now hopes that will change.

“There’s been a general dissatisfaction with the (Sixth Circuit Court’s) ruling, but still there’s this idea of hopefulness and the idea that one day this is going to happen,” Lange said. “There’s always this hope that it’s going to happen eventually. The students here are aware and thinking about it as well.”