Thousands of gay rights activists have been lining the streets of California cities to express their deep anger, frustration and demoralization at the November 4 passage of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that revokes the right of gays and lesbians to marry in the state. And this week, organizers said they were ready to take their fight global.

If one of the goals of backers of the gay marriage ban in California was to silence gay marriage supporters, they might as well kiss that idea goodbye. As the grassroots coalition of loosely-organized groups on such websites as Facebook and MySpace succeeded in delivering winning numbers of protesters in California and Utah, momentum for a national, and even international, effort has emerged.

Signs that California was about to export its newly-found gay activism first appeared over the weekend.

In Chicago, several hundred protesters braved a cold wind to protest Saturday's induction of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson into the National Radio Hall of Fame at their annual induction ceremonies.

Among the offenses gay rights activists listed against Dobson was his financial and public support of banning gay marriage in California, Arizona and Florida, along with a ballot initiative in Arkansas that banned gay couples from fostering or adopting children.

“It is mind-blowing, that the Radio Hall of Fame honored a leader of Proposition 8,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, a pro-gay media watchdog group. “Dobson put his media empire and vast amounts of money into the service of denying equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. And, the Radio Hall of Fame reacted by giving this demagogue a trophy.”

Then again on Wednesday, in New York City, thousands of gay rights activists lined themselves along Columbus Ave. outside of the Manhattan Mormon Temple near Lincoln Center to protest Mormon involvement in the passage of Proposition 8.

Gay rights activists say the Mormon Church's meddling – and overwhelming financial support – in California politics tipped approval of the gay marriage ban. Many of the protests in California were directed at the Mormon Church.

“I'm fed up and disgusted with religious institutions taking political stances and calling them moral when it's nothing but politics,” Dennis Williams, a protester at the New York City event, told The Associate Press. “Meanwhile they enjoy tax-free status while tying to deny me rights that should be mine at the state and federal level.”

While gay marriage in New York remains illegal, gay rights leaders remain hopeful that a newly-elected Democratic-controlled Legislature will address gay marriage in the upcoming session. New York does recognize legal gay marriages performed elsewhere.

With Chicago and New York City successfully behind them, gay rights activists set their sights on a grander stage. Saturday's National Protest Against Prop 8 aims to place a pro-gay protest on the front steps of every city hall in America, and several international cities as well.

The effort is being coordinated at the website jointheimpact.com.

“It's massive,” gay rights veteran Scott Robbe told Reuters.

“It is fundamentally unfair and unconstitutional to deny to some citizens the rights and protections given to others,” Scott Touchstone said in a press release announcing Atlanta's protest.

Gay rights activists say it's no longer about gay marriage and it's no longer about Proposition 8; they say it's only about homophobia.

“This is not a California issue,” it says at jointheimpact.com, which urges people “to unite our voices against H8 and other recent legislation that seeks to make second-class citizens of LGBTQ Americans.”

Others expressed caution at the wildfire of pro-gay protests sweeping the nation.

“PFLAG's hope is that our community will remember, as they continue to speak out about why Proposition 8 hurts our families, that our movement's objective should be to bring new allies onboard and to dialogue with those who disagreed with us on Election Day,” Steve Ralls, director of communications at Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), told On Top Magazine in an email.