by Rex Wockner
Large grassroots protests against Proposition 8 have continued across California since Nov. 4, some drawing 10,000 or more participants in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
Smaller, but still sizable, protests have taken place in numerous other cities and towns, including, just to name a few, Anaheim, Encinitas, Fresno, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Long Beach, Sacramento and Ventura.
On Saturday, Nov. 15, there were coordinated anti-Prop. 8 protests in 300 cities in all 50 U.S. states and several other countries at 10:30 a.m. California time.
In California alone, demonstrations reportedly took place in Alameda, Bakersfield, Berkeley, Big Bear Lake, Chico, Claremont, Colton, Costa Mesa, Delano, Escondido, Eureka, Fairfield, Fresno, Hemet, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Marysville, Merced, Modesto, Monterey, Moorpark, Moreno Valley, Mountain View, Napa, Oakland, Palm Springs, Pasadena, Pomona, Porterville, Rancho Cucamonga, Redding, Redlands, Riverside, Sacramento, Salinas, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, San Rafael, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, South Lake Tahoe, Stockton, Temecula, Tracy, Turlock, Ukiah, Vacaville, Ventura, Victorville, Walnut Creek and Yucca Valley.
A lengthy march from San Diego's Balboa Park to the County Administration Center was the largest of the 300 actions, attracting 25,000 marchers.
Most of the protests have been organized "virally," via text messaging, e-mail, blogs, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter – often in as little as two days' time and without the leadership of big, established gay organizations.
Gay writer and blogger Andrew Sullivan called what's happening "The Gay Awakening" and other commentators and bloggers are expressing similar sentiments.
An e-mail from a San Diego grassroots organizer stated, "If you missed Stonewall in 1969, it's available to our new generations in 2008."
