With signs in hand and voices of distress that can be heard several miles away, Youth First Texas and over 150 protesters from around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex participated Tuesday in the national Prop 8 rally alongside several major cities including Los Angeles and New York.

The demonstration was scheduled earlier in the week originally as a gathering place for Dallas’ LGBT to celebrate the hopeful appeal of Proposition 8, the California state amendment which banned same-sex marriages.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday morning the California Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Prop 8 decision it made during the November 2008 ballot, banning all future same-sex marriages in the state of California; however the court also ruled that the approximately 18,000 same-sex marriages conducted in California during the five months that they were legal will remain valid.

“It’s a shame that the world can’t grow up and realize that just because someone is different it doesn’t mean it’s wrong,” said YFT Ambassador Chelsea Mauzy.

Instead of tears of joy, the streets of Oaklawn and Cedar Springs were — surprisingly –  filled with LGBT youth who were concerned and angered for their future and well being. Dallas’ LGBT youth are notorious for not having a stance in political rallies in the past. This may all well change with the outcome at Tuesday’s rally.

“It was really impressive to see many young people come to the rally,” said Victor Rodriguez. “It breaks the stereotype about young gay people. It shows that we aren’t about being promiscuous.”

The rally started at 7 p.m. CST at the clock tower on Oaklawn and Cedar Springs. The protesters then progressed to the patio at TMC where several reknowned Dallas activists spoke for a little over an hour.

The Prop 8 decision was posted less than two hours after President Obama announced his first nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court: Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

If she is confirmed, Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, and only the third woman. LGBT observers have said that while Sotomayor has not had any major rulings on LGBT issues, she does appear to be progressive.