Yesterday, thousands of Americans rallied in cities all across the country to protest the passage of anti-same-sex marriage legislation in 3 US states in a show of force meant to show the world that discrimination will not be tolerated in this country. Join the Impact organized the nationwide Day of Protest and helped orchestrate the rallies that took place across the country yesterday. A few Pink readers joined the protests in various cities here in the US and sent in their photos. Here are some of the photos that I received yesterday and a report on the National Day of Protest overall:

Tiffany sends in a pic of her 6-year old son holding up a protest sign that he helped her make for yesterday’s rally — Claire sends in a few photos from the Atlanta, GA protest rally — Brenda from San Antonio, TX sends in a pic of her friend John protesting the bans on same-sex marriage — Ashley and her friend Brook send in a pic from the protest rally that took place in LA. Click HERE to see the official Join the Impact Flickr photo album of photos submitted by folks who participated in the rallies yesterday. Feel free to join the pool and upload your own pics!

This from the New York Times: In one of the nation’s largest displays of support for gay rights, tens of thousands of people in cities across the country turned out in support of same-sex marriage on Saturday, lending their voices to an issue that many gay men and lesbians consider a critical step to full equality. The demonstrations — from a sun-splashed throng in San Francisco to a chilly crowd in Minneapolis — came 11 days after California voters narrowly passed a ballot measure, Proposition 8, that outlawed previously legal same-sex ceremonies in the state. The measure’s passage has spurred protests in California and across the country, including at several Mormon temples, a reflection of that church’s ardent backing of the proposition. On Saturday, speakers painted the fight over Proposition 8 as another test of a movement that began with the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969, survived the emergence of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, and has since made enormous strides in societal acceptance, whether in television shows or in antidiscrimination laws. “It’s not ‘Yes we can,’ ” said Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco city supervisor, referring to President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign mantra. “It’s ‘Yes we will.’ ” Carrying handmade signs with slogans like “No More Mr. Nice Gay” and “Straights Against Hate,” big crowds filled civic centers and streets in many cities. In New York, some 4,000 people gathered at City Hall, where speakers repeatedly called same-sex marriage “the greatest civil rights battle of our generation.” “We are not going to rest at night until every citizen in every state in this country can say, ‘This is the person I love,’ and take their hand in marriage,” said Representative Anthony D. Weiner of Brooklyn. In Los Angeles, where wildfires had temporarily grabbed headlines from continuing protests over Proposition 8, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa addressed a crowd of about 9,000 people in Spanish and English, and seemed to express confidence that the measure, which is being challenged in California courts, would be overturned. “I’ve come here from the fires because I feel the wind at my back as well,” said the mayor, who arrived at a downtown rally from the fire zone on a helicopter. “It’s the wind of change that has swept the nation. It is the wind of optimism and hope.” About 900 protesters braved a tornado watch and menacing rain clouds in Washington to rally in front of the Capitol and on to the White House. “Gay, straight, black, white; marriage is a civil right,” the marchers chanted. In Las Vegas, the comedian Wanda Sykes surprised a crowd of more than 1,000 rallying outside a gay community center by announcing that she is gay and had wed her wife in California on Oct. 25. Ms. Sykes, who divorced her husband of seven years in 1998, had never publicly discussed her sexual orientation but said the passage of Proposition 8 had propelled her to be open about it. “I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked,” she told the crowd. And while some speakers were obviously eager to tap crowds’ current outrage, others took pains to cast the demonstrations as a peaceful, long-term, campaign over an issue that has proved remarkably and consistently divisive. “We need to be our best selves,” said the Rev. G. Penny Nixon, a gay pastor from San Mateo, Calif., who warned the San Francisco crowd against blaming “certain communities” for the election loss. “This is a movement based on love.” The protests were organized largely over the Internet, and featured few representatives of major gay rights groups that campaigned against Proposition 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote after trailing for months in the polls. The online aspect seemed to draw a broad cross-section of people, like Nicole Toussaint, a kindergarten teacher who joined a crowd of more than 1,000 people in Minneapolis. “I’m here to support my friends who are gay,” said Ms. Toussaint, 23. “I think my generation will play a big role.”

I am so pleased to learn that Wanda Sykes came out of the closet at the Las Vegas rally … and also announced that she married her wife on October 25th! After the jump, check out video of Wanda‘s powerful announcement speech …

Much congrats, Wanda! And much love to all the protesters who came out for the protests that took place all across the country. You can just feel the electricity in the air … the winds of change are blowin’ and while we may yet have much work to do to achieve equality for all US citizens in this country, we’re gonna get there — I am absolutely sure about that. So many naysayers like to say, “Get over it! You lost! You can’t win” but I am just reminded of the same sorts of folks that used to say the same thing about racial discrimination. We’ve seen with our own eyes that discrimination cannot stand for long in this country. The morality police might think that they have control over the freedoms in this country but they are wrong. We will enjoy justice and liberty for all in this country … and very soon, I think … and what a glorious day it will be when all citizens of the United States of America can finally be free from legalized discrimination.

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