The Gay Aughts

When the decade began, the gay community was recovering from its unrequited love affair with the Clinton administration and worried about the culture war being waged by religious conservatives. By the end of the decade, the same people were dealing with their unrequited love affair with the Obama administration and, well, you know where this is going.

But the decade was not without its highlights. It’s hard to imagine that in 2000 that many would think same-sex marriage would be the law of the land in five states, that 12 states and the District of Columbia would add transgender rights provisions, and that you couldn’t turn on the television, glance at the computer or open a newspaper without seeing openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people staring back at you.

So, on to the gayest moments of the Aughts.

Gay Rights Win in Court

2003 was a very good year for the gays, at least in the legal world. First, in the biggest LGBT victory every in the U.S. Supreme Court, SCOTUS struck down the Texas sodomy law in Lawrence v. Texas. The law, which only applied to homosexual sodomy, was found unconstitutional by a 6-3 vote. A few months later, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health that the commonwealth’s marriage law violated the state’s constitution and therefore the state needed to allow marriages between two men or two women.

Gay Rights Lose in Public Votes

While the courts were good to the gays, voters were not. Same sex marriage laws were rejected in 31 states over the decade, with the most stinging defeats coming in California and Maine. The most liberal state in the country overturned the California Supreme Court in 2008 and outlawed same-sex marriage by approving Proposition Eight. Although the marriages performed before the election and after the court’s ruling would remain valid, a well-funded effort led by Mormons and other religious conservatives meant even the some of the most liberal voters in the country didn’t see marriage as a civil rights issue.

The defeat in Maine, the first big Stonewall 2.0 effort, was just as devastating. After the legislature approved gay marriage, voters in the one of the least religious and most white states in the country also rejected same-sex marriage by approving Question One, despite the pro-gay marriage forces outspending their opponents 2 to 1.

Rachel Maddow given her own show on MSNBC and Andrew Sullivan begins his blog

They couldn’t be more different, yet a wonky lesbian who doesn’t have a television at home became a major player in liberal commentary on MSNBC while a wonky gay Brit defined the political blogosphere with his conservative/moderate/liberal political commentary.

The 2008 debut of Maddow at MSNBC was a triumph of substance over style, giving the former Air America radio host a national platform for her unique mixture of serious questions, raised eyebrows, and an unwillingness not to suffer fools. Sullivan, meanwhile, had started his blog in 2000 and quickly became one of the most provocative voices in the political blogosphere. Everyone seems to dislike him — too gay, not gay enough, hypocritical, obsessed with Sarah Palin — but his blog created a genre and is one of the most linked-to sites.

Manhunt debuts in 2001

Why go out to a bar when you can hook-up online, save yourself the cover charge, and see the potential hook-up naked? Manhunt.net, the most popular online gay hook-up site (NSFW!), has changed how gay men find other guys, while helping to empty gay bars across the country. “Ordering in” cuts out the middle man, though Manhunt and sites like it were criticized for fueling the crystal meth epidemic in the gay community (gay men “tweak” while cruising online for sex; It’s called “party and play” or PNP). Either way, Manhunt and its progeny — like so many innovations online — changed the game and how it was played.

>>>NEXT: Brokeback Mountain & Milk, Andy Cohen’s Reign at Bravo, and Ellen DeGeneres, Covergirl

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.