SAN DIEGO -- It was a happy day for many gay couples throughout San Diego County.

Newly married couples were greeted with cheers after tying the knot.

However, a few hundred feet away there were prayers for a reversal on the decision allowing homosexuals to say "I do." Religious groups, conservatives -- old and young -- gathered to "save marriage."

"And now the people are going to have a chance to go out, vote their common sense that marriage is between a man and a woman," said Brian Brown of Marriage California.

That initiative -- the California Marriage Protection Act -- will be on the November ballot. But some of the people who support the act won't be able to vote against same-sex marriage.

"It's just wrong. It shouldn't happen," said nine-year-old Mitchell Edwards.

Mitchell said he doesn't want to grow up in a country where homosexuals can get married.

"Let's say when I grow up and I had kids. I wouldn't want them seeing two guys walking together, down the street, and have it be right," said Mitchell.

Gay marriage opponents have been accused of spreading a message of intolerance, even hate.

Brown said, "It has nothing at all to do with hate. It has to do with standing up for this very important social institution."

It is an institution that, for the time being, is open to everyone.

Throughout the day there have been several spirited discussions between supporters from both sides of the debate.

Many equate it to the abortion debate, a moral division that will remain a hot-button issue that will be discussed for years and well beyond the November election.