The question if states have the power to ban gay marriages would finally be settled after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear same-sex wedding prohibitions in four states, hopefully putting an end to patchwork decisions on the issue.

The high court said in a brief order that it would hear the 15 cases in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The landmark decision, due for release in June when the court's term ends, would not only affect 14 states that have banned gay marriages but the whole nation.

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The court would hold two and a half hours of oral arguments in April to settle state power to marry same-sex couples and recognition of gay marriages done in other states or countries.

The decision to finally tackle the issue that has divided the nation stems from lawsuits like the one filed by lesbian nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse in Michigan seeking that they be recognized as parents of four children they have adopted separately, at two each.

The White House will file court papers supporting the lesbian couple and seeking the legalization of gay marriages across the U.S., making President Barack Obama the first sitting president to back same-sex marriages.

"It is time for our nation to take another critical step forward to ensure the fundamental equality of all Americans - no matter who they are, where they come from, or whom they love," Reuters quotes Attorney General Eric Holder.

Marriage equality groups supported the elevation of the contentious issue before the high court and hoped the landmark ruling would end the country being divided between pro- and anti-gay marriages.

"We are finally within sight of the day when same-sex couples across the country will be able to share equally in the joys, protections and responsibilities of marriage," the New York Times quotes Jon W. Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal.

Since the Supreme Court struck down in June 2013 a federal law that limits the definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman for the purpose of federal benefit, the number of states that legalized same-sex marriages has gone up to the current 36 from 12.

The New York Times said that based on the court's lack of action in October and last three major decisions on gay rights, it would likely decide in favor of gay marriage, but the daily pointed out that the court also "has a history of caution in this area."

Tagssame sex marriage, supreme court