Fighting Back Across the Nation

Join the Impact was a huge success as reports come in of big, vibrant crowds at demonstrations across the country against California's Prop 8 and for marriage equality.

From Chicago and Palm Beach to Columbia, Missouri, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, LGBT people and our allies in 300 cities, towns and other locales spoke out against hate. It is something unprecedented and I think marks a turning point in the LGBT rights movement. It happened not because any mainstream national and state gay groups led people -- sadly, they've either been silent or actually telling people not to protest -- but because a grass roots movement of people took action, online and in the streets, to fight for their rights.

Pam Spaulding has a terrific slideshow from people submitting photos from across the country, and she has a report from Raleigh, NC, where she attended the protest. Please let me know your own stories of protest in your locales, in the comments below.

UPDATE: Andy Towle also has a photo gallery of submissions from people across the country which is continually updated.