That's not to say the work is done but rather Bayard Rustin, and Harvey Milk and Del Martin and the countless souls who have since moved on, did not fight for this notion of full equality, in vain.

It took 44 presidents, 57 inaugurations and 224 years before the LGBT community was mentioned in an inauguration speech -- but the community was finally mentioned.

That seems pretty memorable to me.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Sen. Chuck Schumer drew our attention to the construction of the Capitol, particularly the Statue of Freedom that stands at the top of the dome. He pointed out it was a freed slave, Phillip Reed, who helped to cast the bronze statue, which was placed there December 2, 1863, not even a year after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

To hear that story on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the nation's first black president was being sworn in for a second time, was a reminder to all of us that at times equality can feel like a slow train coming ... but we cannot grow weary because it is coming.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.