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Doubtless race matters not to white current or past supporters of efforts to end racism. Race does not matter to me - I'm white. I don't treat non-whites differently (I hope, and think). But race matters to every minority I've ever spoken to about it - because they are the ones who DO get treated differently, even today. They feel the watchful eye of security on them. They get used to more frequent traffic stops. They know they miss out on jobs or apartments more than they should. And that's if they are lucky enough to avoid overt or violent racism. They look around a society where almost all the power is in the hands of whites. They know race matters to them.
Gender does not matter to me - I'm male. I don't think I suffer too much from gender stereotyping, but every time I go into meetings with other mid and high-level managers I see nine men for every woman, and a few times those women have told me that, even at a decent level of success, they still feel the unfairness of gender expectations. Their bad moods are PMS - mine are just bad moods. Their occasional venting makes them bitches. Mine makes me strong and passionate. They see the men in the room instinctively look at other men for technical engineering answers, even though they are looking at the woman's subordinates with less experience and education. They know gender matters to them.
Sexuality does not matter to me - I am (mostly - and openly) straight. I certainly don't suffer from any loathing for gay folk, but, especially as an occasional bi as well as just another guy at the bar, I have obviously talked to quite a few, and even though they have been on the whole happy and successful people, they know that they are viewed as "the other". Even if they haven't come across too many Phelpses or gay-bashers, the out ones all have stories to tell of discrimination in housing, at work, with the government or its employees. Those still closeted all hear the cruel jokes and the use of sexuality-based terms as insults that they have to grit their teeth and bear, or reveal their secret that would expose them to the same. And yep, like atheists, gays can "pass" - an option not open to the above normally, but what a self-loathing dishonest and weaselly option, forced upon them by others, that is. They see a world dominated by straights, that largely either hates them or pokes fun at them for who they are. They know sexuality matters to them.
Now no, atheists were never slaves, and they don't make 78c to the dollar for believers, and yes we can marry other atheists if we choose, but we still rank lower than any of the above in measures of political viability, public trustworthiness, and private acceptance. We hear all the politicians kowtow to the believers. We see the media doing straight reporting on stories of divine intervention. We see the special status religious groups get. We know that being open about our lack of religious beliefs would in many cases make us subject to discrimination, scorn and even violence. We spend the money and hear/say the pledge with God levered into them under McCarthyism. We see a society dominated by Christianity in its government, its laws, its norms and we know we are "the other" too. Do you honestly think we don't know that it matters to us?
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