DETROIT – U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ruled the state must recognize marriages of the 300 same-sex couples wed in Michigan last March.

"This Court concludes that the continued legal validity of an individual's marital status in such circumstances is a fundamental right comprehended within the liberty protected under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," reads the decision. "Even though the court decision that required Michigan to allow same-sex couples to marry has now been reversed on appeal, the same-sex couples who married in Michigan during the brief period when such marriages were authorized acquired a status officials may not ignore absent some compelling interest--a constitutional hurdle that the defense does not even attempt to surmount."

READ: Judge Mark Goldsmith's full ruling

Michigan's gay marriage ban was struck down by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman in March. However, that ruling was stayed pending appeal. In November, a federal appeals court reversed Friedman's decision.

In the interim, roughly 300 same-sex marriages legally conducted in Michigan during the brief period between the initial ruling and the stay have been held in limbo.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had said the federal government would extend marriage benefits to those couples, but Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said the state would not recognize the marriages.

Ultimately, Goldsmith ruled, "what the state has joined together, it may not put asunder."

"We are reviewing Judge Goldsmith's decision but as I have said repeatedly, the sooner the United States Supreme Court makes a decision on this issue the better it will be for Michigan and America," said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in response to Goldsmith's ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the issue as early as Friday.