June is LGBT pride month in the United States, and 2014 has been a monumental year in the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights — particularly regarding marriage. The freedom to marry is now a reality or pending in dozens of states across every region of the United States. In Alabama, three cases seek to strike down our same-sex marriage ban.

Alabama being a football state, perhaps a sports metaphor will best explain the fight for marriage: The game is all but over, an historic upset for the history books looming. The two teams are heading into the final minutes with LGBT advocates leading in a blowout, needing only to run out the clock to achieve the ultimate victory.

Success has not been limited to just marriage. This month, President Barack Obama announced that he will sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. This provision will protect some 14 million more Americans from workplace discrimination.

In May, Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, passed an inclusive equal rights ordinance that makes it illegal to discriminate against all Houstonians based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. Such laws are important safeguards for the entire LGBT community. In contrast, marriage only benefits a fraction of the population while taking an outsized share of the conversation and resources.

Last week at a gala in NYC, Obama challenged LGBT advocates to expand their horizons and embrace the entire spectrum of social justice, citing poverty, the minimum wage, undocumented workers, pay equity, and racial justice at the climax of his speech. Such a call to action could not have come at a better time.

"If you've experienced being on the outside, you've got to be one to bring more folks in, even once you are inside," Obama beseeched that gala audience last week.

If our vision is an America where we're all in it together — all on the inside — then we need to pull in other disenfranchised groups and individuals, rather than myopically (and selfishly) fixating on our own narrow issues and goals. Together we stand, divided we fall.

Embarrassingly, there is not a single local or state legal protection for LGBT Alabamians against discrimination. And despite the history-making year that has been 2014 and with three cases against Alabama's ban on the freedom to marry, the Birmingham News did not publish a single story about Central Alabama Pride Week this month.

Birmingham City Council in 2013 considered a human rights ordinance similar to Houston's that would have created a commission to oversee the enforcement of the new law. The bill was approved by the Public Safety Committee and sent to the city's legal department for analysis — where it has sat for the last 16 months. Birmingham is the largest city in the state and is the economic center for one of the nation's top 50 metropolitan statistical areas.

Birmingham needs to compete with the 21 states that have statewide non-discrimination protections, and the growing list of cities with local laws like Atlanta, New Orleans, Louisville, Baltimore and Charleston, S.C.

But the impetus for stamping out discrimination isn't monetary. It's about our values. We boast about Birmingham's growing pile of national accolades while ignoring the fundamental reality that we're leaving vast swaths of our brothers and sisters behind.

Unfortunately, the LGBT rights movement in Alabama currently isn't for the entire community. It is instead targeted primarily to those with the means and influence to buy a seat at the table. Like in D.C., decisions are made behind closed doors by a select few and tailored special interests are put ahead of the overarching values that unite social justice movements.

Specifically, mainstream organizations must step up efforts to make programs accessible to all of us, bring more diverse voices to the table, support the transgender community, and end bisexual erasure. Our unique identities are an asset, not a qualifier for inclusion.

As another LGBT Pride month winds down, let's recommit to being a part of something bigger than ourselves, lest we forever speculate about when Alabama will welcome LGBT rights. We can start by pushing our state's largest city to adopt a fully inclusive non-discrimination ordinance. (A petition started this month asking for such a law already has more than 1000 signatures.)

The ball is in our court.

(Michael Hansen is an entrepreneur, advocate and public relations strategist. He founded One Alabama, an online platform for conversations about social justice and organizing for change in Alabama. michael@onealabama.org)