Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Oregon since May 19, 2014, when a U.S. federal district court judge ruled that Oregon's 2004 state constitutional amendment banning such marriages discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the federal constitution. A campaign that was then under way to win voter approval of a constitutional amendment legalizing same-sex marriage was suspended following the decision. In July 2015, the Governor of Oregon signed into law a bill passed by the state legislature to codify gender-neutral marriage in various Oregon statutes. The law change went into effect on January 1, 2016.