Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was one of the many Americans who showed up at Join The Impact’s nationwide protests Saturday against California Proposition 8. The proposition, which passed two weeks ago, overrode a recent state supreme court decision to recognize same-sex marriage in California as a fundamental right. New York’s protest took place at 1:30 in front of City Hall and reports from the ground described it as “short and somewhat disorganized.” This isn’t too surprising considering organizers scrambled to get it together in about two weeks.

Still, Prop 8 has a good chance of being thrown out when the California Supreme Court reviews it because it made it onto the ballot as a signatures-only amendment instead of a revision which would have required a 2/3 vote of the legislature. Since the California Supreme Court voted this year that “An individual’s sexual orientation — like a person’s race or gender — does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights,” it doesn’t seem likely the court will consider Prop 8 a simple amendment. Legal petitions have already been sent to the Supreme Court urging them to invalidate the proposition and there’s an online petition Californians can sign urging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reopen the measure. And then, of course, there’s the Day Without A Gay on December 10 when you are encouraged to call into work gay. We’ll do it if you will! Full video of Villaraigosa in L.A. and pictures from Saturday’s New York protest are below.

Legal Recourse for California Proposition 8 [Van Boughner]