More than 400 Madison community members marched from Library Mall to the State Capitol Saturday to protest California’s passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

Madison was just one of about 300 cities nationwide that took part in the protest. Milwaukee, Green Bay, La Crosse and Superior all had similar marches to their city halls.

Timothy Schlichting, an organizer of Madison’s march, said the California law has angered the gay community throughout the country since same-sex couples in California had the right to get married and it was taken away from them.

“That’s like if you went ahead during the civil rights movement, when we gave African-Americans the right to vote, that’s like going back and saying you can’t vote now,” said Schlichting, who added he and his partner had planned on getting married in California in June.

Schlichting and co-organizer Cody Olson led cheers as the crowd marched up State Street. University of Wisconsin professor Howard Schweber also spoke on Capitol Square.

Olson, a UW sophomore, said the California referendum required an appropriate response from pro-gay rights individuals nationwide.

“We thought California was going to be the one state that would vote against the ban and protect our rights,” Olson said. “And when Proposition 8 went through, we retaliated with protests and marches since we felt like our rights were being taken away from us.”

But the day was not without controversy. Olson said a Christian group took part in a counterprotest, screaming obscenities at the crowd during their march to the Capitol.

“We just nonviolently walked around them,” Olson said. “I was happy with the people in front who didn’t do anything, just went around them.”

Also, Schlichting said a man who was “quite verbal” of his distaste for homosexuals during Schweber’s speech was asked to leave by police.

The man was calling homosexuality a “sin” and saying two men or two women together is “completely vile,” Schlichting said.

Though many members of the LGBT community have been very supportive of President-elect Barack Obama, Schlichting said he thinks Obama won’t change very much in terms of gay rights.

“President-elect Obama has made it clear that he is not for a same-sex marriage amendment — he wants to leave it up to the states,” Schlichting said. “So maybe a lot of states will give civil unions since he supports that, which would be great.”

Olson said though he knows Obama has not been the strongest supporter of gay marriage rights, he still is hopeful that a Democratic-controlled Washington can push through legislation allowing same-sex marriage.

Schlichting said he had originally only planned for 50 to 100 protesters, but a Facebook group promoting the event helped that number balloon.

Large marches were seen throughout the country Saturday, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Denver.