For as many set-backs as the gay rights movement suffered in 2009, there have been some triumphs. Supporters remain committed to the fight. As Gabriel Arana wrote here, "[E]quality isn't a once-and-for-all achievement ... Nor is it an eventuality. Despite Martin Luther King Jr.'s assurance, the arc of history does not bend in any direction -- much less toward justice -- on its own." Here are TAP's top five salvos from the ongoing fight: We may still be fighting battles, but we've already won the war—public opinion has shifted in favor of gay rights, and conservatives are on the defensive.Forget the polls that say the black community is opposed to marriage equality -- the reality is more complicated. Are religious rights leaders like Rick Warren to blame for the rise of anti-gay laws in Africa? After state-level defeats, lawyers are taking the case for gay rights to federal court. The real Stonewall lesson may be that it's time for the gay community to get aggressive in the fight for equality.--The Editors(AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach) The Year In: Gay Marriage.
For as many set-backs as the gay rights movement suffered in 2009, there have been some triumphs. Supporters remain committed to the fight. As Gabriel Arana wrote here, "[E]quality isn't a once-and-for-all achievement ... Nor is it an eventuality. Despite Martin Luther King Jr.'s assurance, the arc of history does not bend in any direction -- much less toward justice -- on its own." Here are TAP's top five salvos from the ongoing fight: We may still be fighting battles, but we've already won the war—public opinion has shifted in favor of gay rights, and conservatives are on the defensive.Forget the polls that say the black community is opposed to marriage equality -- the reality is more complicated. Are religious rights leaders like Rick Warren to blame for the rise of anti-gay laws in Africa? After state-level defeats, lawyers are taking the case for gay rights to federal court. The real Stonewall lesson may be that it's time for the gay community to get aggressive in the fight for equality.--The Editors(AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach) 
