Supporters of gay rights see real progress on the horizon after the re-election of "ally-in-chief" Barack Obama and important gains for same-sex marriage in four states.
Voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington approved marriage equality in referendums run in parallel with Tuesday's elections - the first time it has ever been approved at the ballot box in the United States.
Those in Minnesota, meanwhile, rejected a proposal to ban gay marriage in its constitution. "It's a proud day to be proudly out," said Zack Ford, editor of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) section of ThinkProgress.org, a political blog affiliated with the liberal Center for American Progress think tank.
"The momentum for marriage equality has never been stronger," added Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organisation.
"With poll after poll showing a growing majority of support, we have a renewed certainty that we will win this fight." Same-sex marriage is already legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia.
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But it remains a divisive issue, banned in some 30 of the 50 states - notably California, where its legalisation was overturned in a 2008 referendum - and fiercely opposed by evangelical Christians and Catholic bishops.
It is not recognised at the federal level either, with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) denying married LGBT couples the same tax and social security benefits as their straight counterparts.
The US Supreme Court is expected later this month to consider whether to rule on DOMA's constitutionality.
The conservative National Organization for Marriage (NOM) expressed disappointment on Wednesday at the election results, but it vowed to pursue the "true and just cause ... of preserving marriage as God designed it".
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, standard-bearer for the Vatican's opposition to abortion, contraception and marriage equality, said it was "a disappointing day for marriage".
Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said the fight for "natural marriage" would shift to defending DOMA and resisting Obama administration efforts towards "the normalisation of homosexual behaviour" in public schools.
"The vote in these (four) states legitimises behaviour that is immoral, unnatural and unhealthy," Fischer told AFP. "That's hardly progress."
