Julian Bond: Gay rights are civil rights
03:31 - Source: CNN

Julian Bond, former chairman for the NAACP, said gay and lesbian rights are an extension of the civil rights movement, and civil rights should belong to all Americans. He said he knows his point of view isn’t popular among all African-Americans, some of whom are offended when gay rights are compared to the civil rights movement.

“They’ve adopted our songs, we ought to be happy,” he said. “They’ve adopted our slogans, we ought to be happy and they’ve adopted the way in which we’ve gone about it in a non-violent way, we ought to be proud of that.”

Bond has received criticism in the past for being vocal about his support for gay and lesbian rights, but said he was eager to play whatever part he could.

“If these people are helping me, can I help them, should I help them?” he said.