Last night, about 20 students jammed into a room on Seattle University Campus to make signs for tomorrow's Prop 8 protest. But some of the folks who claimed they would arrive never showed up. It turns out, they went to another sign-making party in North Seattle instead. And when I got home, a stack of anti-Prop 8 signs were on the floor of my living room. My straight house mates and friends had been making signs, too. Jeez! How many people are making signs? How big is this march gonna be?

It appears the same sort of netroots movement that catapulted Barack Obama to the vanguard of the Democratic Party and later helped him out-fundraise the right is driving an old-school, civil-rights protest in Seattle. The spark started last week when Seattle resident Amy Balliett launched Jointheimpact.com to promote a national day of action. Nine days later, the web site is announcing protests in over 100 cities.

That web site has extended its reach into social networks. SU senior Andy Swanson, wearing a "Marriage is so gay" t-shirt, had used the "Seattle Protest Against Proposition 8" Facebook group and several Seattle University email lists to promote last night's sign-making event. "This shows how a modern medium has promoted a movement from the bottom up," he says. "It has ignited a fire in people."

Moments before I started writing this post, I joined the Facebook group, which started just a few days ago. I was the 5,131th member. By the time I published this post, 30 minutes later, the group had 5,227 members.

It's not just kids with computers, either. With the help of Equal Rights Washington, a thriving marriage-equality nonprofit, the march organizers have netted an impressive lineup of speakers. They include: King County Executive Ron Sims, State Senator Ed Murray, State Senator Joe McDermott, Mayor Greg Nickels, State, Representative Jamie Pedersen, City Council Member Sally Clark, ERW Executive Director Connie Watts, and Pastor David Strong.

The Specifics: Saturday, November 15, 2008, festivities starting at 10:30 a.m., rally and speakers at noon in Volunteer Park. A March to Westlake will begin after the rally. Got pictures of your sign-making, marching and rallying? Upload 'em to the Stranger Flickr Pool.