SAN FRANCISCO — An estimated 1,000 protesters took to the streets over California’s new ban on same-sex marriage Thursday as the political turmoil and legal confusion over who should have the right to wed deepened.
Legal experts said it was unclear whether an attempt by gay-rights activists to overturn the prohibition had any chance of success and whether the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in the state over the past four months were in danger.
California voters Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment disallowing same-sex marriage. The measure, which won 52 percent approval, overrides a California Supreme Court ruling last May that gave same-sex couples the right to wed.
On Thursday, about 1,000 same-sex-marriage supporters demonstrated outside a Mormon temple in Los Angeles. The temple was targeted because the Mormon Church strongly supported the ban.
“I’m disappointed in the Californians who voted for this,” said F. Damion Barela, 43, a Studio City resident who married his male partner nearly five months ago.
Hundreds of protesters also gathered on the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall, some holding candles and carrying signs that read, “We all deserve the freedom to marry.”
Same-sex-marriage proponents filed three court challenges Wednesday against the new ban. The lawsuits raise a rare legal argument: that the ballot measure was actually a dramatic revision of the California Constitution rather than a simple amendment. A constitutional revision must pass the Legislature before going to the voters.
Andrew Pugno, attorney for the coalition of the groups that sponsored the amendment, called the lawsuits “frivolous and regrettable.”
The high court has not said when it will act. State officials said the ban on same-sex marriage took effect the morning after the election.
