GAYS MARCH ACROSS AMERICA

Tens of thousands of lesbian and gay people in the US, and around the world, on Saturday protested the recent bans on same-sex marriage in California and other US states.

Waving rainbow flags and carrying placards demanding equality in marriage the protestors took to the streets in cities from coast to coast in an unprecedented series of gay rights demonstrations.

Organisers of the rallies, Jointheimpact.com said that around 300 simultaneous events, starting at exactly the same time, had taken place across the US.

“Today we have shown the world that we will not be victims anymore! We brought the conversation of equality into the living rooms of America and around the world! Today, we took a gigantic step into the next Civil Rights Movement,” the organisers said on their website.

Smaller protests, held primarily by Americans living abroad, also took place in cities such as Amsterdam, London and Edinburgh.

The protests came almost two weeks after citizens in the states of California, Arizona and Florida voted to pass constitutional amendments to bar same-sex marriage in their states.

Jointheimpact.com said that it plans to keep the momentum of the movement for same-sex marriage rights going with its ‘day without a gay’ action.

Scheduled to take place on December 10 the organisers have urged LGBT people in the US to skip work for the day and to not call in sick, but to call in “gay”.