Gay rights rallies nationwide over Calif. ban

By JAY LINDSAY,

Associated Press Writer

via Yahoo! News


BOSTON – Gay rights supporters waving rainbow colors marched, chanted and danced in cities coast to coast Saturday to protest the California vote that banned gay marriage there and urge supporters not to quit the fight for the right to wed. Many cast it as a civil rights issue.

Joseph Mercado and Justin Niehoff embrace as they protest a gay marriage ban approved two weeks ago by Californians in Chicago's Federal Plaza Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. The event is part of a simultaneous protest planned for cities nationwide. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) Photo Credit: AP

Crowds gathered near public buildings in small communities and major cities including New York, San Francisco and Chicago to vent their frustrations, celebrate gay relationships and renew calls for change.

"Civil marriages are a civil right, and we're going to keep fighting until we get the rights we deserve as American citizens," Karen Amico said in Philadelphia, holding up a sign reading "Don't Spread H8".

"We are the American family, we live next door to you, we teach your children, we take care of your elderly," said Heather Baker a special education teacher from Boston who addressed the crowd at Boston's City Hall Plaza. "We need equal rights across the country."

Massachusetts and Connecticut, which began same sex weddings this past week, are the only two states that allow gay marriage. All 30 states that have voted on gay marriage have enacted bans...