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Those are some of the local voices protesting the passage of Proposition 8 one year ago today. Prop 8 amended Article 1 of the California Constitution which reads “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The measure overturned the California Supreme Court’s historic ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. In the days following last November’s vote, mass, and often spontaneous protests broke out all over the country but especially in the California cities of Westwood, Hollywood, and San Francisco. Since prop 8’s passage, legislatures in Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage. Yesterday, Maine voters narrowly repealed their state’s same-sex marriage law. Here in California a debate raged over the summer among activist groups about the best ways to overturn Proposition 8. Equality California, an established organization which has played a central role in the state’s LGBT politics, favors a strategy of waiting until the 2012 ballot to repeal the ban. The logic is that presidential elections bring greater political momentum to the voting booths. But, a newer group called Equality Network, favors putting “Marriage Equality” on the ballot next year. Equality Network has also called for a rally tonight at 7 pm on the corner of Vermont and Santa Monica to commemorate last year’s loss.

GUEST: David Comfort, co-founder of Los Angeles’ Equality Network

For more information, visit www.equalitynetwork.org, or email david@equalitynetwork.org.