The backlash against California’s new ban on gay and lesbian marriage intensified over the weekend, with thousands of people gathering around the state during mostly peaceful protests.

More than 3000 opponents of Proposition 8 gathered Sunday at a rally at the state Capitol as speaker after speaker exhorted them to fight to restore the right to same-sex marriage.

“This fight is not over,” Elana Metz, organizer of the Sacramento rally, told the spirited crowd. “We will demand our human rights.”

“I didn’t see it coming,” said Joe West, who traveled from San Francisco. “It was like a punch in the gut. We worked so hard to bring change in this election, and then this happens.”

The weekend of protests started Friday evening when about 1,000 people gathered in San Francisco and about 2,000 people gathered in Long Beach. About 5,000 people turned out Saturday evening for a Prop. 8 protest in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, and a candlelight vigil in Laguna Beach drew about 1,000 people.

The state’s largest event was held in San Diego on Saturday, with about 10,000 protesters. 

On Sunday, hundreds gathered outside Saddleback Church in Lake Forest (Orange County), an evangelical megachurch that pushed for the ban. About 400 assembled outside Oakland’s Mormon Temple, forcing Highway Patrol officers to temporarily close two Highway 13 ramps to protect the marchers.

Several Prop 8 related incidents were reported. A supporter of the marriage ban carrying a plastic foam cross clashed with protesters at Palm Springs City Hall on Friday. A progressive Jewish synagogue in Sacramento that performs same-sex ceremonies was vandalized on Sunday when “Leviticus 18-3” was spray painted on the wall.

“I stood on the street corner with my family in protest of Proposition 8,” said Jennifer Chadwell of Santa Maria, a small town on California’s Central Coast. “We were pushed, called horrible names, got drinks poured on us, and two of our fellow protesters were threatened with knives.”

“These things were all done by people claiming to want to restore family values to California.”

At the Sacramento protest, the crowd covered the Capitol steps and spilled into the surrounding park. Dozens of rainbow gay pride banners waved, along with hundreds of the blue and white “Vote No on Prop. 8” signs left over from the campaign.

There were also hundreds of homemade signs, broadcasting the feelings of those left shocked and disappointed when Prop 8 passed by 52% of the vote. “Hatred is Not a Family Value,” one said. “Love Will Prevail,” another added. “I’m Embarrassed to be a Californian,” said a third.

Opponents of the same-sex marriage ban filed a challenge to the new constitutional amendment with the California Supreme Court, arguing that the rights guaranteed by the court in a May decision overturning a 2000 same-sex marriage ban can’t be overturned by a simple ballot measure.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an opponent of Prop. 8, expressed support for the court challenge on CNN’s “Late Edition” Sunday, calling the measure’s passage “unfortunate.”

“But it is not the end because I think this will go back into the courts,” the governor said. “It’s the same as in the 1948 (California) case when blacks and whites were not allowed to marry. This falls into the same category.”

The governor’s position on the fate of the existing same-sex marriages aligns him with California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who has said he believes that the state Supreme Court will uphold the existing marriages as valid. 

The 14-word constitutional amendment does not state explicitly that it would nullify same-sex marriages performed before the Nov. 4 election, although proponents say it will. Legal experts differ on this point.

Supporters of Prop. 8 argue that the legal challenges are little more than desperate attempts to overturn the will of California voters.

It’s more than that, said Dennis Mangers, a former Orange County legislator who will take over next month as chief of staff to state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

“It’s very clear we’re not going to take no for an answer,” said Mangers, who married his longtime partner this year. “If necessary, we’ll go back to the ballot … and give the voters of California another chance.”

In Oakland, the loud and peaceful protest outside the Mormon Temple included dozens of gay and lesbian couples whose marriages are in limbo. They were focusing their anger on the church because of its endorsement of Prop. 8 and the flood of campaign donations by LDS members.

But not all churches favored Proposition 8. In Pasadena, the 4,000-member All Saints Episcopal Church announced that while it could legally no longer marry same-sex couples, it would continue to bless gay civil unions.

“It’s very unfortunate and embarrassing that the (Christian religion) is in large part responsible for this act of bigotry,” the Rev. Ed Bacon told reporters after his Sunday sermon.