The diversity push was started a few years ago under then-NAACP chairman Julian Bond. Later, Benjamin Todd Jealous, who in 2008 became the group's youngest leader at age 35, ramped up the effort and also urged the organization to take up gay rights.

"At our core, we want to end discrimination and have equality for all people," Brown said.

In a reflection of how it has broadened its agenda, the NAACP came out against California's Proposition 8, the ballot measure banning gay marriage. Last year, it spoke out against Arizona's anti-immigration law. It also strongly supported the federal DREAM Act, a proposal to give illegal immigrant students a pathway to citizenship through college or military service.

Perry, the openly gay chapter president, said: "I'm just one example of younger individuals who find a home in the NAACP for issues that they might represent."