150 Game Changing Wins that Made 2012 the Gayest Year Ever

A remarkably short four decades ago, the Stonewall Revolt of 1969 opened the flood gates for LGBT rights. The closet, so sturdy for so long, started being swept away in a rush of pride. Still, LGBT Americans lived in a culture of "tolerance," a popular euphemism for enduring.

There have been momentous years since then — both Barney Frank's 1987 coming out and the 2003 Supreme Court ruling overturning anti-sodomy laws come to mind — but when we look back in twenty years time or ten or even five, 2012 will be remembered as quantum leap for LGBT rights in the United States of America. It's the year that equality went from being a far-off dream to becoming an inevitable, immutable and irreversible reality. Even Newt Gingrich agrees!

This was the year of equality, the year the American dream came into sharper focus and the nation crossed from begrudgingly tolerating gays, and sometimes even acknowledging their relationships, to demanding our inclusion in the greater American family. Coming out is for the large part no longer a big deal, which is a big deal in and of itself.

There have never been as many out and proud elected officials; never before has Wall Street embraced us with such force; never before have so many conservatives admitted they need to shift gears on marriage equality and embrace change. This was a year of "never before" and "never again."

AFTER THE JUMP, 150 reasons why 2012 was a year of permanence for LGBT Americans, a year that the next wave of rights began its swoop across the purple mountain majesty and above the fruited plain.

And for more of our 2012 Year in Review, be sure to read "I'm Gay: 50 Most Powerful Comings Outs of 2012" HERE.

Rachel Maddow Interviews Ted Olson and David Boies About the Future of Marriage Equality: VIDEO

As part of a Law and Social Change symposium, Rachel Maddow sat down to interview Prop 8 litigators Ted Olson and David Boies at NYU Law School on Friday.

NYU reports:

Olson and Boies said they would aim for a unanimous decision, but they acknowledge that in a realistic worst-case scenario, the Supreme Court may deny same-sex marriage as a constitutional right and rule that states must decide the issue. In conclusion, said Boies, we all have a lot of work to do to undo the "pain and evil" of this discrimination against gays and lesbians.

“I love talking to old, straight white guys about this issue,” quipped Maddow.

Watch the interview, AFTER THE JUMP...

Pro-Equality Conservative Prop 8 Attorney Ted Olson is Coaching Paul Ryan for Debate Against Joe Biden

Ted Olson, one of the two star attorneys leading American Foundation for Equal Rights in its court battle against Proposition 8, is coaching GOP VP nominee Paul Ryan for his debates against Vice President Joe Biden, several news outlets are reporting:

Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

Ted Olson, who’s been litigating against Prop 8 on behalf of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, is set to play the role of Vice President Joseph Biden in debate practice against Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. Buzzfeed and Politico reported the news Saturday morning, which was confirmed to the Washington Blade by Brendan Buck, a Ryan spokesperson working on the Romney campaign.

“Joe Biden has been in elected office for more than 40 years,” Buck said. “There are few people in politics with more experience debating the issues than Joe Biden, so we are taking this process seriously. Mr. Olson is one of the most skilled, intelligent, and successful litigators in America– just the kind of opponent needed to prepare the congressman for Mr. Biden.”

Buck said Olson will receive no compensation from the Romney campaign for his role impersonating Biden as part of debate preparation.

National Stonewall Democrats executive director Jerame Davis is concerned:

“After he has spent as much time, money, and reputation on overturning Prop 8 as he has, it’s shocking to learn that Ted Olson would lift a finger to help the Romney-Ryan ticket during debate prep. The Romney-Ryan ticket stands completely counter to the goals of AFER and Ted Olson’s stated belief that Prop 8 should be overturned. I have always been concerned that the architect of Bush v. Gore was one of the lead attorney’s in the fight to overturn Prop 8, but I honestly never expected Olson to so blatantly contradict his own argument by supporting a ticket that would stand squarely in opposition to what he calls one of the most important cases of his career.”

Other LGBT group leaders offer more of a shrug. Rick Jacobs, chair of the Courage Campaign, says "I know [Olson's] commitment to equality is real and unshakable" and hopes he will use some of those hours lecturing Ryan on equality. Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson said he prefers when Olson works for our side.

Olson, Boies And Allies Ask SCOTUS To Ignore Prop 8 Appeal

Ted Olson and David Boies, the attorneys most recently famous for their work to fight prohibition on same-sex marriage in California, joined their colleagues at the American Foundation for Equal Rights today in calling on the Supreme Court to push a Proposition 8 appeal back to a lower court. Doing so would effectively nullify the marriage ban in The Golden State.

Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed reports:

The case challenging the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 is "an attractive vehicle" for determining "whether the States may discriminate against gay men and lesbians in the provision of marriage licenses" — but the Supreme Court should pass on the case, lawyers challenging the law say, and let stand an appeals court ruling that strikes down the 2008 amendment on narrow grounds.

If the Supreme Court takes the advice of Ted Olson, David Boies and the other lawyers representing the plaintiffs in Perry v. Brown, then Proposition 8 would remain unconstitutional, as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held, and same-sex couples in California would regain the right to marry that they had been able to exercise briefly in 2008.

Read the request AFTER THE JUMP.

Republicans Support Marriage Equality, Says GOP Mayor In Ad Airing During Republican National Convention: VIDEO

Hoping to convince voters at the Republican National Convention to support marriage equality, Human Rights Campaign and the Freedom To Marry campaign asked GOP San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to appear explaining to them that, yes, some on the right support LGBT progress. And that conservative politics and gay rights aren't mutually exclusive.

"As I Republican, I believe in conservative values," says Sanders, before listing "family," "freedom" and "limited government" as some of the right wing values that jibe with gay marriage. He also points out that other prominent Republicans, including Dick Cheney, Cindy McCain and Ted Olson, support opening the wedding aisle for all Americans.

Watch Sanders' video, which will air on all major channels in Tampa during the convention, AFTER THE JUMP.

Clay Aiken Tells Hate Group Leader Tony Perkins He'll Be Ashamed of His Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage: VIDEO

Brandon posted a shorter clip of yesterday's Face the Nation segment in his round-up last night, but the whole thing's worth watching because it also includes segments with Ted Olsen, Newsweek contributor and Bush advisor Mark McKinnon, and Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson.

Family Research Council's Tony Perkins leads off the segment on Obama's same-sex marriage endorsement.

Says Perkins: "I don't think the president did a political calculus to do this because if he did, he needs to go back to the calculator because it's a bad formula."

After a few minutes of Perkins' evangelical talking points, Aiken weighs in (he's become a polished pro).

Said Aiken:

“Between the time of 2003 and today, we’ve seen — as we’ve seen with gay marriage polling — we’ve seen minds changing. We’ve seen people become more open and understanding of homosexuality....I want to address the fact of what you just said here. When my mother married my stepfather, she went to a church — a Baptist church — and since she had been divorced, they wouldn’t let her get married there. So, churches are able to decide who gets married in a church regardless...Obviously, you’ve got people who make the argument that interracial relationships — back in the 70s, people made the same arguments against interracial relationships as they are making against same sex marriages today. So, I feel — I really strongly believe in the next 20 years, we’re going to look back on this and be sort of ashamed of the fact that we’re against this, just as we are ashamed today that we didn’t let people of different races get married.”

McKinnon thinks Obama's move shows he's principled and voters will respond to that:

"President Bush won reelection in 2004, not because people liked him necessarily, or even agreed with his policies. They voted for him because they thought he had core principles that they'd fight for consistently."

Adds Ted Olson: "The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln. Equality and independence and people that love one another, that wish to form a stable bond, are part of our economy, are part of our community - that should be a conservative value."

Check it all out, AFTER THE JUMP...