Future historians can be forgiven if they look back at the number of paradigm-shifting events—some related, all of tremendous moment and consequence—that took place in LGBT rights during 2012. An abbreviated list of the year’s highlights:

President Obama Endorses Marriage Equality

In May, President Barack Obama became the nation’s first head of state to affirm his support for marriage equality. During an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Obama spoke of his evolution from supporter of civil unions to proponent of full marital rights.

“When I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said.

Supreme Court Takes Up DOMA and Prop 8

On December 7, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped into the charged debate over same-sex marriage by agreeing to review two court challenges to federal and state legislation that restricts the legal definition of marriage to the union between a man and a woman.

The justices announced that they would not only review the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that denies married gay couples the same federal benefits received by heterosexual couples, but that they will also consider the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, the state law that prohibits gay marriage which was narrowly approved by voters in 2008.

The high court is expected to hear arguments in the two cases as early as March, with a decision to come by the end of June.

Maine, Maryland, and Washington Approve Same-Sex Marriage, Minnesota Rejects Anti-Equality Amendment

In November, voters in Maine, Maryland, and Washington state approved measures supporting marriage equality, while those in Minnesota rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The four made history by becoming the first states to approve—or not reject—gay marriage at the ballot box.

Maine voters changed course for a second time concerning same-sex marriage, as a previous effort at passage of marriage equality had failed.

In Maryland, voters were asked whether to uphold the gay marriage law championed this year by the governor that was put on hold after opponents gathered enough signatures to force a public vote.

Washington state voters likewise approved a same-sex marriage referendum that upholds a measure signed into law in February.

Minnesota voters killed an amendment to the state constitution that would have defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman—the first state to reject a constitutional amendment limiting marriage equality.

While same-sex marriage remains illegal in Minnesota, the absence of a constitutional amendment prohibiting it removes a major obstacle to its eventual adoption.

In addition, same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and the District of Columbia, where measures were enacted by lawmakers or through court decision. Before last month, 32 states had rejected marriage equality initiatives.

Tammy Baldwin: First Openly Gay U.S. Senator

In an upset victory, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) defeated former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, a moderate Republican, for the state’s open U.S. Senate, becoming the nation’s first openly gay senator.

“I am well aware that I will have the honor to be Wisconsin’s first woman U.S. senator,” Baldwin acknowledged. “And I am well aware I will be the first openly gay member of the United States Senate.”

Sunshine Warriors: Floridians Elect Two Openly-Gay Lawmakers

On November 20, David Richardson of Miami Beach (District 113) and Joe Saunders of Central Florida (District 49) were sworn in as Florida’s first openly-gay members of the state House of Representatives. Before last month, Florida was the largest state not to have elected an openly-gay member to its legislature.

Richardson, 57, is a former Defense Department auditor who had never run for elected office. Saunders, 29, was born in Fort Lauderdale. Both are Democrats.

Hate Crime Conviction in Rutgers Bullying Suicide

On March 16, a Middlesex County, NJ jury convicted former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi—who had used his Webcam to spy on his gay college roommate’s intimate encounter with another man—of all 15 counts against him including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy, which is considered a sex crime in New Jersey.

Ravi—who was 18 years old at the time—set up a Web camera on September 19, 2010, after his roommate, Tyler Clementi, requested privacy in their room for several hours that night. Unbeknownst to Clementi at the time, Ravi and a female friend had watched the encounter. Ravi then posted on Twitter: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with another dude. Yay [sic].”

Clementi, 18, jumped from the George Washington Bridge three days after the Webcam viewing, on Sept. 22, 2010—barely three weeks into the men’s freshman year.

Clementi’s suicide tragically altered what might have been—in the words of his dormitory’s resident assistant—“a roommate issue” into something with far more ruinous consequences for both men, and changed the way we think about cyberbullying.

FDA Approves Home HIV Test

In July, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first over-the-counter HIV test, enabling the test for the virus to be administered at home. The OraQuick test detects the presence of HIV in saliva by using a mouth swab, with results inside of 40 minutes.