As she recently told reporter Trevor Maxwell, "I'm dealing with people who have real problems, who are dealing with discrimination. If anyone should be recognized for the court rulings, it should be the plaintiffs and the judges, not the lawyers."

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In a profile on her published by the Northeastern University School of Law, she said, "What keeps me going is that we are making progress. In 2003, I was lead counsel in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the first case to end marriage discrimination against same-sex couples in the United States. That case broke a historic barrier and forever changed the standard by which future efforts to treat lesbian and gay citizens will be judged. Today, 18 states have non-discrimination laws, and I hope the day for a federal non-discrimination law is at hand. I want to help take this movement over the finish line so that there is a single standard of justice in this country regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."

In another interview, she said, "I do this work because I believe in the bedrock American promise of liberty and justice for all. The story of America is that we keep trying to live up to that promise, embracing as full citizens people who were once outsiders."

Bonauto's advocacy for gay rights has earned her a number of awards. In 2005, she received an honorary degree from Hamilton College. In the citation she was lauded for her "tenacity of purpose" and for the success of her work to extend "for the first time all the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples in the form of civil unions in Vermont, and to end the exclusion of such couples from civil marriage in Massachusetts."

In 2010, Bonauto received Yale University's Brudner Award, "which is awarded annually to an accomplished scholar or activist whose work has made significant contributions to the understanding of LGBT issues or furthered the tolerance of LGBT people."

In addition, Bonauto has been described as the Thurgood Marshall of the marriage equality movement. As David Garrow noted in 2004, "Bonauto's patient, quietly passionate yet self-effacing advocacy may have as far-reaching an effect on America as did that of Thurgood Marshall."

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told Garrow that ''Massachusetts has had the success it did because of Mary Bonauto.'' Beth Robinson added that while the marriage-equality movement ''doesn't stand on the shoulders of any one person,'' there is no doubt that ''the one individual person who's done the most for marriage is Mary.''

Arthur Leonard, a professor at New York Law School, described Bonauto as "one of the dynamos in the gay rights movement." He added, "She goes out there and wins these impossible-to-win cases."

Bonauto herself disavows the title of "architect" of marriage equality, saying "I'm happy to be a bricklayer" in the movement.

In 2011, Bonauto was named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Boston" by Boston Magazine.

Despite the accolade, Bonauto, although she spends a lot of time in Boston, lives in Portland with Wriggens and their twin daughters. Bonauto gave birth to the twins while she was litigating Goodridge.

Ironically, Bonauto and Wriggens were not able to marry in Massachusetts immediately after the state achieved marriage equality. Then Governor Romney invoked a largely forgotten 1913 law that restricted marriage to Massachusetts residents.

The couple were finally able to marry in Massachusetts in 2008, but, Bonauto noted wryly at the time that, "I live in a state where my marriage is legally void.''

However, in November 2012, the voters of Maine ratified marriage equality at the polls, thanks in part to Bonauto's hard work as lobbyist and litigator.

As the United States Supreme Court heard arguments about the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act on March 26 and 27, 2013, Mary Bonauto was not one of the attorneys answering questions or making arguments. She was, rather, in the audience. Still, her presence was palpable as one of the principal architects of the legal strategy designed to invalidate the pernicious laws that discriminate against same-sex couples. If the Court declares DOMA and Proposition 8 unconstitutional, Mary Bonauto will certainly deserve part of the credit.

Although there are frequently social and legal barriers to overcome, adoption is an important way in which lesbian and gay male couples create families.

Anti-discrimination statutes and ordinances have made a real difference in the lives of millions of glbtq individuals.

Vermont's Civil Union law conferred all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities of marriage on same-sex couples.

While the courts of some states have been almost unremittingly hostile to gay men and lesbians involved in custody litigation, others have declared that glbtq parents have the same rights and responsibilities as other parents.

Many glbtq people reject a fixed definition of family imposed by society, and instead claim the right to define their own families as they choose.

Lesbian and gay couples have been fighting for the freedom to marry since the dawn of the modern glbtq struggle for equality; despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage in the United States has been slow.

For more than four decades, the ACLU has been at the forefront of litigation and education designed to secure glbtq rights on a variety of fronts.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) authorizes states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships or civil unions and it requires that federal bureaus and agencies recognize only opposite-sex marriages.

New England's leading legal organization dedicated to equal justice for glbtq individuals and families, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) provides litigation, advocacy, and educational work in all areas of glbtq civil rights.

The largest glbtq legal advocacy group in the United States, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund has been fighting for the civil rights of queer Americans and people with HIV/AIDS for over three decades.

Founded in 1977 as the Lesbian Rights Project, the National Center for Lesbian Rights is a public interest law firm committed to advancing the civil and human rights of glbtq people through litigation, advocacy, and education.

In 2001, Anthony D. Romero became the first Latino and first openly gay man to lead the American Civil Liberties Union, the nation's leading public interest law firm.

Evan Wolfson has participated in some of the crucial legal battles in the struggle for glbtq rights, and has been particularly visible in the quest for marriage equality.