Is the fight for gay marriage today's civil rights movement?

The legalization of gay marriage has long been a controversial issue in the United States. Currently, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont have passed measures legalizing the practice in their states, with New York being the most recent state to do so. Traditionally, marriage has been an issue that has been handled at the state level of government, which is why, in my view, President Bush made very little headway when he was pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban it nationwide in the early years of his presidency. Many would argue that because marriage has been a state issue throughout the years, individual states should decide whether or not they want to legalize same-sex marriage in their state, rather than allow it in all fifty states. There is a part of me that can't help but compare the struggle that same-sex couples are going through today to that of African-Americans in the 1950's and 1960's during the civil rights movement. What were African-Americans and African-American leaders fighting for? The answer of course is equality. What are same-sex couples fighting for? You guessed it, equality. So why do we want to deny them equality just because their sexual orientation might be different than ours? I fully understand and appreciate the views of those who want to protect the institution of marriage between a man and a woman. However, in viewing gay marriage as a civil right, I just can't see how in good conscience we can deny that right to one person while providing that right for the next? I also appreciate the moral and ethical arguments against gay marriage. I am addressing the issue merely from a constitutional standpoint. Constitutionally speaking, I think that same-sex couples would have an excellent legal argument under the fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The fourteenth amendment provides equal protection under the law. Are same-sex couples equally protected under the law if they are denied the right to marry? Thurgood Marshall cited the equal protection clause during his arguments before the Supreme Court in the famous school desegregation case of Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education. A case which was won by Marshall and the NAACP. In drawing comparisons between the struggle for gay marriage today and the civil rights movement of the 1950's and 1960's, I will close with this question: Is the fight for gay marriage today's civil rights movement?