To call 2015 a historic year for LGBT rights in the US would be, to many, an understatement.

It was the year that transgender people were finally allowed to serve openly in the military. It was the year Caitlyn Jenner became the face of public transgender acceptance.

And it was the year that the supreme court made marriage a right for all sexual orientations under the US constitution. But advocates caution that these victories were the beginning of a very long and fraught path to LGBT equality, not the end.

“Without question, 2015 was a banner year for LGBT Americans,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of the LGBT media watchdog group GLAAD. “But marriage equality is a benchmark, it is not a finish line.”

In the coming year, LGBT advocates expect to face even greater backlash to these victories, paired with a dangerous sense of complacency.

“I hope that 2016 is the year that our larger society begins to understand that we are far from achieving full equality and justice for LGBT people in the United States, and that we collectively have so much more work to do” said Beverly Tillery, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

Already in 2015, the backlash was evident. Kim Davis, the clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses was nominated for Time magazine’s person of the year. In Houston, Texas, sweeping legislation that would have barred all types of discrimination was rejected when it was rebranded as a bill to allow transgender people in bathrooms. Since then, Tennessee has proposed a “bathroom bill” to explicitly bar transgender bathroom use.

“[Next year] the fear-mongering will continue,” Ellis said. “And we must redouble our efforts to thwart their fear tactics and move acceptance forward.”

But equally ominous to advocates is the fear that even supporters of expansive LGBT rights will lose their momentum.

“Soon, GLAAD will release a new study that reveals startling rates of complacency in this country,” Ellis said, “showing that many Americans think that we’ve already crossed the finish line for LGBT equality and acceptance.”

This report is expected in mid-January of next year, and organizations plan to use it to invigorate the country to continue the fight for full equality.

While 2015 may have been a “banner year” for some, for others it was a year of historic mourning with at least 22 transgender and gender non-conforming people murdered.

The National Coalition of Ant-Violence Programs – which tracks violent crimes that target LGBT people – has seen a meteoric rise this year in reported violence towards transgender people. While this may be in part because these homicides were not previously tracked as transgender, the agency said this community is in a “state of emergency” due to the levels of violence occurring at a time when they are most visible.

The congressional LGBT equality caucus in part acknowledged the issue by holding the first-ever congressional hearing on transgender violence. The caucus also came out against the recent one-year abstinence policy the Food and Drug Administration implemented after ending its lifelong ban of gay and bisexual blood donors.

And members of Congress introduced a bill in 2015 that would update the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to fully protect people based on gender and sexual orientation under a new Equality Act.

“The power of having one document, one piece of legislation, that simply and clearly lays out the best path to legal equality cannot be overstated,” said Roddy Flynn, executive director of the US congressional LGBT equality caucus.

If passed, all federal laws would be amended to explicitly bar LGBT discrimination. This act would provide a legal remedy for issues like job discrimination against LGBT people who currently can be fired in 28 states due to gender or sexual orientation. It has gained support from numerous civil rights groups and even President Obama, which, according to Flynn, is evidence that there is “a clear direction for the entire LGBT movement to go”.

“2016 is going to be all about moving the ball forward to achieve full legal and societal equality for LGBT people,” the executive director of the US congressional LGBT equality caucus, Roddy Flynn, told the Guardian. “With all of our successes in 2016, we were also constantly reminded of how much there is left to do.”

But others hope 2016 will be the year that people begin to see LGBT equality as not only about the law, but about lifting up the everyday stories of LGBT people, particularly those most at risk for violence – trans women of color.

“I hope that [next year] the larger community fully understands that the fight for justice doesn’t end with legal rights,” Tillery said. “But in some ways our fight for respect, dignity and justice starts there.”