It’s a trying time for gay activists.

On the one hand, gay and lesbian Americans can celebrate a major win in Connecticut, which yesterday began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. That move came after the state’s Supreme Court ruled last month the state’s civil unions simply weren’t equal, thus opening the door to official marriage.

Ben Klein, a senior lawyer with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, heralded the move as a tremendous step for America’s democratic promise: “Today Connecticut sends a message of hope and promise to lesbian and gay people throughout the country who want to be treated as equal citizens by their government’s living proof that marriage equality is moving forward in this country.”

That’s certainly true, but Connecticut’s watershed moment will be muddied by the debate over California’s gay marriage. That state’s Supreme Court also struck down a gay marriage ban as unconstitutional, but angry conservatives rallied their troops and put forth Proposition 8, a ballot measure that successfully overturned the Golden State’s same-sex nuptials.

Gays, however, aren’t going to take this restriction lying down and have been organizing protests from coast-to-coast. Already they’ve staged dozens of vigils, protests and boycotts in California, but the movement’s definitely gaining steam on the east coast. According to Gay City News, an estimated 10,000 people gathered outside the Mormon Church’s Midtown headquarters in New York yesterday to protest the church’s lead role in passing Proposition 8. Lawyers and other interested parties have also filed lawsuits asking California’s courts to overturn Proposition 8, a move that has drawn widespread support from politicians, including Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Emotions definitely play a large role in the widespread opposition, but let’s not discount the power of technology. The Los Angeles Times reports today that most of these actions have been organized by young, internet-savvy activists. For example, San Francisco-based lawyer Trent Thornley created a Facebook page, "Californians Ready to Repeal Prop. 8" the day after the election and has already amassed 20,000 supporters.

Regardless of where one stands on this matter, it’s clear that the Proposition 8 battle - and its technological outposts - has awakened a new generation of activists, gay and straight. Thirty-year old Andrew Oldershaw remarks, "It took a catastrophe like this to really wake people up." It also doesn’t hurt that there’s scads of celebrity support for gay marriage, perhaps most pointedly from lesbian entertainer Ellen DeGeneres, whose marriage to her lady-love, Portia De Rossi now hangs in limbo.

DeGeneres recently spoke to gay journalist Greg Hernandez and expressed her own emotional turmoil. Said DeGeneres, "I think the next day (after the election) a lot of people felt energized about Obama and excited for that then there was that big, loud voice saying, ‘You are not equal to us’ and that feels bad - really, really bad. A loud voice saying, ‘You don’t deserve the same rights.’ So it took a little bit of air out of me from the night before."