Writing the year-end wrap-up today is hard and sad. Hard because this has been an incredibly eventful year for gay rights, sad because many of us, myself included, are so angry about Reverend Rick Warren, giving thanks for the wins might be harder than we would like. That said, here is a list of important successes and failures for the year:

The law of equality is evolving

The California Supreme Court found that excluding LGBT people from marriage was unconstitutional. It is hard to celebrate that win now, what with the passing of Proposition 8 in November, but we cannot forget how important the Court’s reasoning was in that case. The right to marry was rooted in the equal protection clause. That clause exists, not only in every State Constitution, but in the Federal Constitution. This reasoning will form the basis of many other progressive decisions to come.

That same court has also agreed to hear a review of Proposition 8. The attorney-general of California has called for the marriage ban to be stuck down.

A Florida court ruled that banning gay adoption was unconstitutional. The decision took steps to extend the equal protection law to a more robust protection of LGBT rights and commented that LGBT people should be granted the same level of protection as women and Black Americans.

Finally, New York Governor Paterson issued a directive guaranteeing recognition for same-sex marriages in his State. A challenge of this directive was brought in the district court and was dismissed.

This progress in the legal world has led to a high profile anti-gay campaign. We saw it during the election with Proposition 8 and many other anti-gay ballot initiatives and again with Rick Warren. But this backlash is part of the success too. We must be ready to deal with the most virulent homophobes when the sanctity of the exclusion of LGBT people is threatened. If there wasn’t some progress, there wouldn’t be a need for outrage. This shows us that the work in courts must now be echoed on the ground.

Barack Obama will be the next President

As upset as I am with Obama (more on that later), he has openly identified as a “fierce advocate” for LGBT rights. He has referred to LGBT people in all of his important speeches and has included LGBT individuals in his inauguration parade. He is not all that I had hoped for, but he is by far an improvement over the last President and is certainly the most progressive President on LGBT issues in U.S. history.

Part of this is the climate of the times – there are just more people comfortable with LGBT rights today than during the Clinton years. But part of it might just be his own commitment to improving equality in the United States.

From what we know now, he will likely not go to the wall for our community, but he will be a very sympathetic ear. My hope is that his administration will oversee the repeal of DOMA. It’s a long shot, but a possible success, especially in the lead up to the next election.

Reverend Rick Warren will speak at the inauguration

Yes, Barack Obama may do many important things for LGBT people and yes, an invocation is only a three minute prayer, but this choice indicates that homophobia is still an acceptable vice. Whereas years ago it was ok to fraternize with racists and anti-semites as long as they made noises about having friends who were Jews or Blacks, today it is ok to bring homophobes into the fold as long as they are progressive on other issues. This sends the message that promoting a lower class of citizens based on “lifestyle choices” is acceptable.

This is Obama’s fault, it is outrageous and it is a tremendous setback for the LGBT movement.

The United States failed to sign the UN non-binding statement on LGBT rights

This event is not so much a failure (notice the term “non-binding”) as an indication of how far there is to go for LGBT rights in the US. The statement said nothing about gay marriage, gay adoption even protections for gay people in the employment context. All it asked was for countries to eliminate the criminalization of LGBT people for acting on their sexual orientation. One line mentioned economic, social and cultural rights including the right to health, but it was part of a larger statement specifically focused on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In sum, this should have been a no brainer, even for the US.

I think the time when a statement like this can garner US support is very close. In fact, if the line about health care and economic rights was removed, I feel an Obama administration would support the statement.

The ups and downs of this year have been a bit tortuous. It is easy to focus on the losses, the backlash, the amendments and the inauguration. However, we need to remember that great progress is being made legally. Once the courts move to approve equal rights for LGBT people, I firmly believe that public opinion will follow. It is, in fact, the only way real progress for equality has been made in this country.

So donate to your local ACLU and Lambda Legal, keep an eye out for the Prop 8 challenge next year and the Iowa court ruling on gay marriage, talk to your conservative family members about gay rights while their mouths are too full to protest, and be sure to have a safe and happy holiday.