50 years after Selma, Biden ties gay rights to civil rights

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says the same human rights that African Americans fought for in Selma, Alabama, are at stake for gay rights activists today.

Biden is drawing parallels between the civil rights and gay rights movements in a speech to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group.

He says Selma and Stonewall were “basically the same movement.” He’s referring to 1969 Stonewall Inn riots that marked the symbolic start of the modern gay rights movement.

His remarks come on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery. Biden says he never could have anticipated that gays would serve in the military openly and a majority of states would legalize gay marriage, as he never could have imagined serving alongside a black president.

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