Also read: civil rights, LGBT, same-sex marriage, generations

I've always felt connected to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. As a child, my family shared with me their stories of growing up in rural South Carolina during a time when being spat at or being called the N-word was more than just a common occurrence--it was applauded. And I, as a 24-year-old Black man, have had my own run-ins with racists and bigots, albeit not as severely as it was for my parents.

But despite history, things have gotten progressively better for Blacks in America. We now claim an $845-billion buying power. We have someone who looks like us in the White House, finally. Unfortunately, not as much progress can be said for LGBT people, as evidenced by the overwhelming passage of anti-gay-marriage and adoption propositions this past November.

History books will mark Nov. 4, 2008, as the historic day Americans elected Barack Obama as the country's first self-identifying Black president. Sadly, the books will also show that on that day--and for what is believed to be the first time in the country's history--LGBT Americans in three states (Arizona, California and Florida) will be successfully stripped of their basic human right to marry whomever they love. A classic example of taking one step forward, two steps back.

And if Nov. 4 showed us nothing else, it certainly showed my generation what our cause must be whether we're gay or straight: LGBT rights.

The disturbing debate on gay marriage has been estranged from the civil-rights struggle of the 1960s, mostly by older people who prescribe to the archaic perception of civil rights, defining it only in terms of color. The struggles certainly have their differences; for starters, one is about race and arguably economics, and the other is about orientation and whether it's a choice. To pigeonhole either struggle to race or orientation is to miss the significance of the struggle holistically. Furthermore, to assume either struggle is over is flawed--just ask the millions of Black LGBT people.

It's easy to get wrapped up in the semantics of the debate when it comes to the ideas of "gay marriage" and "civil unions." It's also easy to assume that because Generation Y has proven to be more accepting of racial differences that it will embrace LGBT rights with the same ease. This is wrong.

Consider this: In Arizona, California and Florida, three states with gay-marriage ballot initiatives in 2008, voters between 18 and 29 were split virtually in half. Forty-eight percent of Arizona voters in this age group and 53 percent of voters in Florida voted to ban gay marriage. In California, 61 percent of voters between 18 and 29 voted against the statewide ban on gay marriage.

Generation Y has been described as the most progressive generation to date. We are among the ranks of underrepresented groups that challenged corporate America to embrace diversity. We made technology the name of the game. And our latest accomplishment: We are undeniably a big reason that America elected its first Black president in U.S. history.

We, as the generations before us, view ourselves as extremely progressive. But while we have made strides in terms of race relations, we still have a ways to go when it comes to LGBT rights.

So when you ask members of Generation Y what the term "civil rights" means to us, we will undoubtedly include LGBT rights--but where it falls on our list remains to be seen.

But rest assured, it's there.