"The Unfinished Business of Civil Rights"

This may just be one of the best articles I've read on the reason why LGBT rights are part of the larger civil rights struggle.  It's from Byron Williams, an Oakland pastor and the voice behind byronspeaks.com.  Byron's premise?

If...one understands the civil rights movement as something that helped America get closer to the democratic values to which it committed itself in 1776, along with the preamble of the Constitution that reads 'We the people of the United States in order form a more perfect union,' then I would suggest the LGBT struggle is very much an extension in the ongoing civil rights struggle.

Williams riffs on the question of "Who are the We?" when it comes to the U.S. Constitution. He draws inspiration from African-American Former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who once said:

'We, the people.' It is a very eloquent beginning. But when the document was completed on the 17th of September 1787 I was not included in that 'We, the people.' I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in 'We, the people.'

Williams argues that the question of "Who is the We?" has plagued our country since its founding, leading us to war with each other, leading to protests, leading to violence.  And with time, the country has grown to expand the definition of "We" as a matter of basic equality.

Williams says the time is now for that to happen again, with regard to LGBT rights.  His challenge is directed in the article to African-American churches, but the implications of his argument are much broader.  It gets down to a very simple question - are gay rights and civil rights mutually exclusive, or are they the same movements?  Williams lends his vote (and I offer mine) that they are indeed the same.