There is a great discussion on the history and types of non-violence here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolence
It was interesting to me that this source says Gandhi was influenced by the Sermon on the Mount.
Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would happen if we could get a couple thousand (or even a couple hundred) committed LGBT couples to stand in line for a marriage license, day after day, week after week, in one of the major metropolitan areas.
This is another interesting tidbit:
"In 1989, thirteen nations comprising 1,695,000,000 people experienced nonviolent revolutions that succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations ... If we add all the countries touched by major nonviolent actions in our century (the Philippines, South Africa ... the independence movement in India ...) the figure reaches 3,337,400,000, a staggering 65% of humanity! All this in the teeth of the assertion, endlessly repeated, that nonviolence doesn't work in the 'real' world. "
(Walter Wink, as quoted by Susan Ives in a 2001 talk)