Remember when gay marriage seemed almost unimaginable? Hold on to that, because the way we got to where we are now — with equal marriage rights throughout the land — can teach us something about the Trump era.

The torrent of recent threats to civil rights and civil liberties from the Trump administration and Congress have sparked strong resistance, but they have also left many of us deeply worried. Facing such unprecedented threats with so much power behind them, some people understandably wonder whether or not we really have a chance of stopping them.

I say we do.

We have already learned the hard way that we need to take President Trump’s threats seriously, and we can’t take victory for granted. But we also have reasons for hope. Those who care about equal rights have been in really difficult situations before, and the decade before the nationwide win for marriage equality provides a recent and important example.

The first legally recognized lesbian and gay marriages in the United States began on May 17, 2004, in Massachusetts. This shot-heard-round-the-world breakthrough inspired many who care about equality — but it also provoked a fierce backlash.