On November 15, 2008, 1 million people in 300 cities across the United States and ten countries protested California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 voters' approval of Proposition 8

California Proposition 8 (2008)

Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...

, which changed the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples and eliminated same-sex couples' right to marry. The demonstrations were organized by Join the Impact

Join the Impact

Join the Impact is an American LGBT political movement in support of gay rights which rapidly developed a national coalition after the passage of Proposition 8 in California. The website for the group was established November, 7th, 2008 after founders Amy Balliett and Willow Witte decided to...

, a grassroots group that emerged in light of the election results.

Locations

• Albany, New York
  Albany, New York
  Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
  
  (500)
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
  Albuquerque, New Mexico
  Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
  
  (500)
• Anchorage, Alaska
  Anchorage, Alaska
  Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
  
   (50-100)
• Atlanta, Georgia (1,500)
• Baltimore, Maryland ("hundreds") Baltimore Sun: Protesters in Baltimore rally against Proposition 8
• Bloomington, Indiana
  Bloomington, Indiana
  Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
  
   (250)
• Boise, Idaho
  Boise, Idaho
  Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
  
   ("several hundred")
• Boston, Massachusetts (4,000)
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
  Cambridge, Massachusetts
  Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
  
   (75)
• Chicago, Illinois
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
   ("thousands")
• Chico, California
  Chico, California
  Chico is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 86,187 at the 2010 census, up from 59,954 at the time of the 2000 census...
  
   (500)
• Cincinnati, Ohio
  Cincinnati, Ohio
  Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
  
   (500)
• Dallas, Texas
  Dallas, Texas
  Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
  
   (1,200)
• Decorah, Iowa
  Decorah, Iowa
  Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,172 at the 2000 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S...
  
  
• Denver, Colorado
  Denver, Colorado
  The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
  
   ("hundreds")
• Des Moines, Iowa
  Des Moines, Iowa
  Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
  
   (150)
• Eureka, California
  Eureka, California
  Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
  
   (hundreds)(event organizers:500-700)
• Eugene, Oregon
  Eugene, Oregon
  Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
  
   (200)
• Fairbanks, Alaska
  Fairbanks, Alaska
  Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
  
   (30)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (1,000)
• Fresno, California
  Fresno, California
  Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
  
   ("several hundred")
• Greenville, South Carolina
  Greenville, South Carolina
  -Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
  
  
• Houston, Texas
  Houston, Texas
  Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
  
   (1,000)
• Iowa City, Iowa
  Iowa City, Iowa
  Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
  
  
• Laramie, Wyoming
  Laramie, Wyoming
  Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
  
   (About a dozen)
• Las Vegas, Nevada
  Las Vegas, Nevada
  Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
  
   (1,000)
• Little Rock, Arkansas
  Little Rock, Arkansas
  Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
  
   (200)
• Long Beach, California
  Long Beach, California
  Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
  
   (1,000)
• Los Angeles, California
  Los Angeles, California
  Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
  
   (10-12,000)
• Louisville, KY (200-300)
• Miami, Florida
  Miami, Florida
  Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
  
   ("hundreds")
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
  
   (1,000)
• Moscow, Idaho
  Moscow, Idaho
  Moscow is a city in northern Idaho, situated along the Washington/Idaho border. It is the most populous city and county seat of Latah County and the home of the University of Idaho, the land grant institution and primary research university for the state...
  
   (125)
• New York City
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
   (4,000)
• Northampton, Massachusetts
  Northampton, Massachusetts
  The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
  
   (400)
• Orlando, Florida
  Orlando, Florida
  Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
  
   (1,000)
• Palm Springs, California
  Palm Springs, California
  Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
  
   (500)
• Phoenix, Arizona
  Phoenix, Arizona
  Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
  
   (2,000)
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
  
   (2,000)
• Pomona, California
  Pomona, California
  -2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Pomona had a population of 149,058, a slight decline from the 2000 census population. The population density was 6,491.2 people per square mile...
  
   (400)
• Portland, Oregon
  Portland, Oregon
  Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
  
   ("several hundred")
• Raleigh, North Carolina
  Raleigh, North Carolina
  Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
  
   (1,400)
• Redlands, California
  Redlands, California
  Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...
  
   (400)
• Reno, Nevada
  Reno, Nevada
  Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
  
   (300)
• Sacramento, California
  Sacramento, California
  Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
  
   (2,000)
• Salt Lake City, Utah
  Salt Lake City, Utah
  Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
  
   (2,000)
• San Diego, California
  San Diego, California
  San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
  
   (20-25,000)
• San Francisco, California
  San Francisco, California
  San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
  
   (7,500)
• San Jose, California
  San Jose, California
  San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
  
   (2,000)
• Sandpoint, Idaho
  Sandpoint, Idaho
  Sandpoint is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 7,365 at the 2010 census.Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products and light manufacturing, tourism and recreation and government services...
  
   ("dozen or so")
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
  Santa Fe, New Mexico
  Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
  
   (100)
• Santa Barbara, California
  Santa Barbara, California
  Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
  
   (500)
• Seattle, Washington ("thousands")
• Spokane, Washington
  Spokane, Washington
  Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
  
   ("at least 125")
• St. Louis, Missouri
  St. Louis, Missouri
  St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
  
   (500)
• Tampa, Florida
  Tampa, Florida
  Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
  
   (100)
• Tucson, Arizona
  Tucson, Arizona
  Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
  
   (1,000)
• Urbana, Illinois
  Urbana, Illinois
  Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
  
   (80)
• Walnut Creek, California
  Walnut Creek, California
  Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
  
   (400)
• Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
  
   (900)
• Wichita, Kansas
  Wichita, Kansas
  Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
  
   (100)
• Wilmington, North Carolina
  Wilmington, North Carolina
  Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
  
   (140)

Notable events

Comedian Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes is an American writer, stand-up comedian, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999 Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America...

, who stars in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine

The New Adventures of Old Christine

The New Adventures of Old Christine is an American comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus which ran for five seasons on CBS from March 13, 2006, to May 12, 2010...

, came out

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 as lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 to a crowd of 1,000 at a rally held in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

.

See also

• Arizona Proposition 102 (2008)
  Arizona Proposition 102 (2008)
  Arizona Proposition 102 was an amendment to the constitution of the state of Arizona adopted by a referendum held in 2008. It added Article 30 of the Arizona Constitution, which says:"Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."- Overview :On...
  
  
• Briggs Initiative
• Civil unions
• Florida Amendment 2 (2008)
• Join the Impact
  Join the Impact
  Join the Impact is an American LGBT political movement in support of gay rights which rapidly developed a national coalition after the passage of Proposition 8 in California. The website for the group was established November, 7th, 2008 after founders Amy Balliett and Willow Witte decided to...
  
  
• Post-election events of Proposition 8 (2008)
  Post-election events of Proposition 8 (2008)
  Proposition 8 is a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008, state elections. Due to the nature and controversy surrounding the initiative, several important post-election events occurred that sought to overturn the proposition through civil disobedience or...
  
  
• Protests against Proposition 8 supporters
  Protests against Proposition 8 supporters
  Protests against Proposition 8 supporters, including the Roman Catholic church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , which collaboratively campaigned in favor of California's Proposition 8 through volunteer and financial support for the measure, took place starting in November 2008...
  
  
• Same-sex marriage in the United States
  Same-sex marriage in the United States
  The federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...
  
  
• Stonewall Riots
  Stonewall riots
  The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
  
  
• White Night Riots
  White Night Riots
  The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of the lenient sentencing of Dan White, for the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. The events took place on the night of May 21, 1979 in San Francisco...