PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Supporters of gay marriage rallied in Portland and Eugene Saturday as part of a national protest touched off by a California measure against it.

The Eugene event attracted an estimated 200 protesters, who lined the bridge between the Lane County building and Eugene City Hall before marching to Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza for a series of speakers. | VIDEO

Speakers in Portland included the city's outgoing mayor, Tom Potter, the city's former police chief whose daughter is a lesbian.

Potter joked that he was just "a warm-up act" for the mayor-elect, Sam Adams, who is gay.

He told the crowd that "we cannot stay home. We cannot stay silent, We cannot say this is acceptable in the United States of America — in any state."

Rallies also were planned for other Oregon cities.

Oregonians have outlawed gay marriage, but the Legislature has approved of civil unions with most of the benefits of marriage.

One unusual sign stood out Saturday in Portland, reading "I love my gay, Mormon husband." .

Holding the sign was Jacob Howa-Morrow, an Oregon Health & Sciences University dental student. Next to him was his spouse, Jackson Howa-Morrow, who said he left the Mormon church in disgust at its support of California's Proposition 8, which rescinded a state constitutional amendment allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Mormons contributed as much as half of the $40 million raised to pass the constitutional amendment that restored an earlier ban struck down in May by California's Supreme Court.

The California Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate Proposition 8.

The Howa-Morrows, both 24, wed in Palm Springs, Calif., on June 26 and have the marriage license to prove it.

"You can't put civil rights up for a vote," said Jackson Howa-Morrow, a Lewis & Clark Law School student. "It's not a legitimate exercise of political power."

The couple joined several hundred protesters at Saturday's boisterous but peaceful rally, one of many being held nationwide.

Other participants included Paul Fukui and his partner, Todd Karakashian. The couple, together 17 years, married in San Francisco four years ago before moving to Oregon.

In Oregon four years ago, voters passed Measure 36, amending the constitution to declare marriage legally valid only between a man and a woman.

Since then, state laws have passed protecting gays against discrimination and granting many benefits of marriage through domestic partnerships.

(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.)