DES MOINES, Iowa – Same-sex marriage advocates have marked today as a "National Day of Protest" and are planning marches around the country to rally against California's Proposition 8, a voter initiative that passed on Election Day, defining marriage in the state as strictly between one man and one woman.

Organizers have march leaders and groups coordinated in all 50 states, even in towns as small as Decorah, Iowa, population 8,172.

"Guess the whole 'Yes We Can' Obama thing got something started," writes poster kgongre, advertising the event on OpEdNews.com. "Too bad so many who voted for progress with one hand tried to shove us back in the closet with the other. No. Not going to work that way this time.

"Seems a lot of us Gay folk are just about fed up with being told who we can and can't marry," kgongre writes.

The planned day of protest is being coordinated through a website called Join the Impact, which states its movement seeks to "look forward toward what needs to be done now to achieve one goal: Full equality for ALL."

Join the Impact has served as a clearinghouse for international supporters of the protest, enabling the groups to coordinate their marches to begin at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, across the U.S. and in at least nine other countries.

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Ed Reggi, organizer of the St. Louis protest, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the goal is to pressure the California Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8.

"If California can rewrite its constitution to specifically target gays and lesbians, then whose civil rights could be next?" Reggi asked.

Seattle activist Amy Balliett, founder of Join the Impact, told the website 365gay, "When we're backed into a corner, as we have been with these propositions, we cannot let ourselves be silenced. Protest is a way to bring that conversation back to a national level."

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As WND reported, following Proposition 8's passage, protest marches in California began and grew to near-riot levels. Photos in the Los Angeles Times showed protesters climbing the fences of a Mormon temple, screaming through the chain link, while marchers shouted "bigot" and "shame on you" through the gates.

Thousands have taken to the streets in California, leading to arrests and confrontations – including one in which an elderly lady carrying a cross was verbally assaulted, her cross stripped from her and trampled on the ground.

WND has also reported how Christian churches have been targets of hateful, angry rhetoric, even while homosexual marriage advocates have marched carrying signs reading "Love thy neighbor" and "Separation of church and hate."

Join the Impact insists, however, that today's protests are intended to be peaceful.

"Our mission is to encourage our community to engage our opposition in a conversation about full equality and to do this with respect, dignity, and an attitude of outreach and education," says the website. "JoinTheImpact, as an entity, will not encourage divisiveness, violence, or disrespect of others and we do not approve of this. We do not stand for pointing the finger at one group and placing blame."

 

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