I see it as the painfully slow march of human progress. Genocide was worse than slavery, which was worse than internment, which was worse than misogyny, which was worse than segregation, which was worse than anti-miscegenation, which was worse than marriage inequality (as you could be jailed for it in certain states.)

Marriage inequality is certainly not as bad as slavery, but it is definitely the prevailing major civil rights issue of our time, at least in the US.

And once it's resolved, there will be a new rights issue that commands a majority of interest: whether that be transgender rights, immigrant rights, or something else.

To say that other things were worse, and diminish the importance of current issues, is to diminish the great march of progress we are currently enjoying.