Since June this year, over 18,000 couples in the state have entered a same-sex marriage following a landmark state Supreme Court decision to strike the ban on gay marriage in California, as it violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. The status of their unions is now in jeopardy and thousands more will now be denied the right to marry the person they love. Amendments to ban gay marriage were also approved in Arizona and Florida, and Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents, a motion which far right camapigners admitted was primarily aimed at gay couples.

For most, this week’s events heralded a new dawn with clear skies, but for some communities those grey clouds of discrimination are still very much present.