A same-sex couple embraces after marrying in Washington Square Park in New York City on July 26, 2011
It's possible that 2012 will be recorded as the tipping point in gay-marriage history. After President Obama's announcement that he would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, Delaware, Hawaii and Illinois all signed legislation granting gay couples the right to form marriage-like civil unions. In July, New York went all in. Phyllis Siegal, 77, and Connie Kopelov, 85, became the first gay New Yorkers to wed officially on July 24.