When the Supreme Court makes a historic decision granting equal rights to a group of people who experience state-sanctioned discrimination, it signals a radical shift in American culture and politics.

The symbolism can be so sweeping that some might mistake it for a sign of full equality. The public may have thought as much last week when the Supreme Court ruled that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Yet, activists say winning the right to marry has no bearing on existing laws and policies that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in their everyday lives.

"It is the case that in the vast majority of states, you can get married on Monday morning and be fired on Tuesday when you put a picture of your wedding kiss on your desk," says Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a San Francisco-based legal organization that represented plaintiffs in the Supreme Court marriage equality case.

The discrimination that Kendell describes is possible because more than half of states do not prohibit employers from firing someone based on their sexual orientation.

Several advocacy organizations, including NCLR, have filed lawsuits against such practices, and it is one of the leading issues that will define the LGBT rights agenda in the coming months.

Activists are also working hard to ban conversion therapy, protect transgender prisoners and ensure that transgender troops can serve openly in the military.

Here are four LGBT victories that could have a profound influence on not only law and policy, but also cultural and societal attitudes.

1. Anti-discrimination laws

The federal government prohibits employers from discriminating based on a person's race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Sexual orientation and gender identity, however, are not explicitly included in this list.

Some states, including Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island, have made it specifically illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals. Employers commonly have policies against this kind of bias as well. But these patchwork laws and practices mean that LGBT people may be treated differently depending on where they live and work.

Take Jacqueline Cote for example. A Walmart employee who lives in Massachusetts, Cote tried several times between 2006 and 2012 to enroll her wife in the company's health insurance plan.

Timeline for Cote v Walmart, in which a lesbian Walmart employee was denied health insurance for her spouse http://t.co/F4ffn8483t — GLAD (@GLADLaw) March 4, 2015

Walmart, which acts as its own health insurer and is subject to federal anti-discrimination laws as a result, denied her request. Prior to 2013, the company did not offer health insurance to same-sex employee spouses. In the meantime, Cote's wife had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and her treatment cost more than $100,000.

The Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a legal advocacy organization, is representing Cote in a lawsuit against Walmart that alleges the company violated state and federal law by discriminating against Cote based on her sex.

"If she was a man, she would have gotten the health insurance," says Janson Wu, the organization's executive director.

A series of court rulings years ago found that laws prohibiting sex discrimination do not apply to sexual orientation, but Janson says those decisions got it wrong.

While activists push for federal and state anti-discrimination laws, this strategy could force courts to rule that discrimination based on sexual orientation is already illegal. That would be a big win for LGBT rights.

2. Conversion therapy

Conversion therapy, often used by religious groups or individuals, is a kind of counseling meant to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. Mental health professionals have discredited it and emphasize that LGBT youth subjected to conversion therapy may experience distress and depression.

President Obama called for a ban on the practice earlier this year, but the most significant victory in ending its use may have just come in a New Jersey court case.

After a superior court judge ruled that it was a violation of state law to misrepresent homosexuality as a mental illness or disorder and market conversion therapy services accordingly, a jury awarded five plaintiffs in the case $72,400. The award is compensation for fees the plaintiffs paid to a conversion therapy group.

Victory! In #JONAHtrial, a jury decided that gay “conversion therapy” = fraud pic.twitter.com/N7AFpPRx3W — SPLC (@splcenter) June 25, 2015

"It sends a loud message to anyone who still practices this really damaging treatment on patients that this is not alright," says Wu, whose organization did not represent the plaintiffs.

California and New Jersey were the first states to ban conversion therapy and many more have introduced legislation this year to do so.

3. Transgender prisoners

Prisons are notoriously unsafe for transgender inmates, who experience high rates of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Many also have no right to receive transition-related healthcare.

Two high-profile cases seek essential safeguards and rights for transgender inmates. In Georgia, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization, sued the state Department of Corrections on behalf of Ashley Diamond, a transgender woman.

Diamond, imprisoned on a parole violation, has been denied hormone therapy and says she has been sexually assaulted multiple times. The suit requests safe prison placement and appropriate medical care, including hormones. It also calls for an end to policies that deny transgender inmates transition-related medical care.

In California, the Transgender Law Center is representing Michelle Norsworthy, a transgender woman in a men's prison who is serving time for second-degree murder. Despite her psychologist's recommendation that she receive "gender-affirming surgery," officials refused that request.

Inmate Michelle-Lael Norsworthy speaks during her parole hearing at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., on May 21, 2015. Image: AP Photo/Steve Yeater/Associated Press

In April, a federal district judge ruled that denying her such medical care violated her constitutional rights and ordered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide Norsworthy sex reassignment surgery. The decision is being appealed in court, and will be reviewed in August.

If successful, says Wu, these cases could establish a right to transition-related medical care, including surgery, for all transgender people. Some states require insurers to provide coverage for this care, but it is not a universal practice.

4. Transgender troops

Transgender people are not allowed to join the military and may be discharged if they transition during their service. There is increasing pressure to lift the ban, and some branches have taken steps to make it harder to discharge transgender individuals.

President Obama, who could lift the ban with an executive order, appears open to the idea. In June, he hosted transgender service members and veterans at a White House Pride reception.

When will transgender Americans be permitted to openly serve in our military? Why hasn't this happened, yet? #AskPOTUS — Charles Clymer (@cmclymer) July 1, 2015

The Defense Department is also currently reviewing its policy on transgender service members, but a decision is not expected until later this year.

There are more than 15,000 transgender people in the U.S. military, according to the American Medical Association, which said last month that there is no "medically valid reason" to prohibit them from serving.

"I think transgender individuals being able to serve in the military will be a huge cultural shift in the understanding of transgender people, generally," Kendell says.

"The good news is that marriage now provides a launching pad for there to be a greater receptivity and understanding and desire to tackle these issues," she says. "Anything we can do to eliminate vestiges of shame and stigma that exist in federal law, that exclude us or target us for disfavored treatment, helps to achieve an overall sense of true belonging in this society."