Students Mourn Gay Marriage Ban in California

While things got violent in Los Angeles and Sacramento when more than a thousand people gathered to protest the passage of Proposition 8, a gay marriage ban in California, students across the state also held their own rallies and vigils Wednesday, a day after the controversial ballot initiative passed.

More than 100 Stanford students—holding "No on 8" signs converted to now read "I am a second-class citizen"—staged an impromptu rally around 1 p.m. yesterday, clogging an already congested intersection on campus and forcing traffic to come to a halt, the Stanford Daily reports.

Small protests were held at UC-Berkeley and Sacramento State, and Cal Poly students gathered with the San Luis Obispo community in a vigil over the new law. As one Sacramento State student put it, "I just watched it all shatter last night."