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Global gay rights protest has roots in Seattle

05:42 PM PST on Friday, November 14, 2008

By DON PORTER / KING 5 News

Video: Worldwide gay-marriage protest being organized in Seattle
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SEATTLE - The fight for gay marriage escalates Saturday with rallies in Seattle and many other cities around the globe.

The worldwide protest is being organized in Seattle.

"We're calling for the entire gay community to come together as one," said Amy Balliett, key organizer of Join the Impact, an effort to expand the protests that erupted after Proposition 8 passed in California. 

Balliett's effort to stage a Seattle protest quickly mushroomed on social publishing Web sites and blogs set up and run by Seattle-based WetPaint.com.

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"We've gotten people in over 300 cities to start planning protests, each in their own city," said Wetpaint CEO Ben Elowitz.

Elowitz is openly gay and campaigning for gay rights online. "Join The Impact" scored more than 1 million hits this week alone.

"Flash activism here," Elowitz said. "People are coming to a Web site, organizing, getting the word out with viral tools like Wetpaint and Facebook and immediately getting thousands of people all to organize one protest."

In West Seattle, a gay couple twice married in California feels keenly the pain of Proposition 8.

Ken Molsberry and his partner of 15 years, Chris Vincent, were first wed in 2004 in San Francisco, and then again last July.

"This is something that we think is a terrible injustice," Vincent said.

KING

Join the Impact is an effort to expand the protests that occurred after Proposition 8 passed in California.

The nationwide protest gives them new hope.

"If anything, this turmoil has brought us closer together," Molsberry said.

The Seattle demonstration against California's passage of Proposition 8 starts with a noon rally in Volunteer Park followed by a march to Westlake Center for a 2 p.m. rally.

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