By JAY LINDSAY The Associated Press


Gay rights supporters in the state where same-sex couples first exchanged wedding vows gathered under cloudy skies to protest a California vote that banned gay marriage and urge supporters not to quit the fight for the right to wed.

The rally at Boston's City Hall Plaza was one of hundreds planned to start at 1:30 p.m. in all 50 states.

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

"A black president should be nothing and gay marriage should be nothing," said Keith Smith, 42, a Chicago postal worker, who attended the event with his partner, Terry Romo, 34, a Wal-Mart store manager.

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

Protests following the vote on Proposition 8 in California, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, have sometimes been angry and even violent, and demonstrators have targeted faiths that supported the ban, including the Mormon church.

But representatives of Join the Impact, which organized the protests, asked supporters to be respectful and refrain from attacking other groups during the rallies.

The mood in Boston was generally upbeat, with attendees dancing and signing to the song "Respect." Signs cast the fight for gay marriage as the new civil rights movement, including one that read "Gay is the new black."

But frustration over the California ban and it's backers was evident at the protests.

One sign in Chicago read: "Catholic Fascists Stay Out of Politics."

"I just found out that my state doesn't really think I'm a person," said Rose Aplustill, 21, a Boston University student from Los Osos, Calif., who was one of thousands at the Boston rally.

Planning for the nationwide protests was started by a Seattle blogger, Amy Balliett, just days after the California vote, which took away gay marriage rights that had been granted by the state's high court.

The idea rapidly spread online and Join the Impact predicted that yesterday's protests would involve tens of thousands of people in hundreds of communities.

In North Dakota, where voters in 2004 overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, low-key protests were held yesterday in Grand Forks and Fargo, where people lined a bridge carrying signs and flags.

"It's been very peaceful," said Josh Boschee, who helped organize the Fargo protest.