Thousands of gay rights supporters took to the streets of Hollywood last night outraged that California voted to ban same-sex marriages.
Voters approved the constitutional amendment by a margin of 52.5 to 47.5%, according to near complete results.
Known as Proposition 8, the proposal was trumpeted by conservative groups as the people's way of overturning the legalisation of gay marriage back in May.
For the gay community, however, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
Angry crowds thronged the streets in West Hollywood, the heart of Los Angeles' gay community, chanting slogans and waving signs.
The referendum circumvents a California Supreme Court ruling in May that legalises gay marriage by amending the state constitution to add the phrase: 'Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California.'
The court's May ruling overturned an earlier plebiscite in 2000, when 61% of voters agreed marriage should be defined as only being between a man and a woman.
Fearing that Proposition 8 could be approved, thousands of same-sex couples rushed to tie the knot since June, and especially in the last few days.
The ruling now leaves thousands of gay couples in a legal limbo.
Those couples include some celebrity marriages such as comedienne Ellen DeGeneres who wed her long-time girlfriend Portia de Rossi in August.
Police said at least 2,000 people gathered for the march, but the crowd continued to swell.
Protestors included families with children and clerics from progressive churches.
A lesbian couple plans to file a new suit to prevent Proposition 8 from being implemented.
Hollywood stars including Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg as well as multinational companies such as Apple campaigned against the ban.
But supporters unleashed a flood of hard-hitting ads especially targeting the Hispanic community and its traditional Christian and family values.
The Los Angeles Times reported some 18,000 same-sex couples married in the past four and a half months.
Arizona and Florida also passed similar referendums by large margins on Tuesday, stating that marriage was the legal union between a man and a woman.
The largest was in Florida where 62% of voters approved the measure.
In Arkansas, voters approved a ban on couples who live together without being married, whether gay or straight, from adopting or fostering children.
