Whatever the Supreme Court ultimately decides about the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, the movement of same-sex marriage from the margins to the mainstream has been achieved.

CNN: How gay rights went mainstream

Finally, the conservative intellectual pillar Charles Murray took the CPAC stage to argue that the conservative movement must accept same-sex marriage if it wishes to win elections in the future.

CNN: Slowly, GOP shifting on same-sex marriage

Obama's declaration of his support for marriage equality the day after North Carolina residents banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions in a referendum is only the latest encapsulation of the dialectical interaction of movement and countermovement: Each effort to limit marriage equality has led to a countereffort on behalf of equal rights.

CNN: How the right helped launch same-sex marriage movement