Protests in Washington and across the country came after passage of California's proposition which banned same-sex marriage.
Article by:
Agencies
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousands of gay marriage
advocates held boisterous rallies on Saturday across the United States and abroad in a coordinated
protest of California's
vote this month to ban same-sex marriage.
In
Manhattan, where some protesters were offering
hula-hoop demonstrations, Sean Petersen, 21, a musician from Brooklyn,
called the vote "mean-spirited and divisive."
In
Chicago, Andy Thayer, a co-founder of the Gay
Liberation Network, exhorted a crowd that had listened to a gay men's choir
sing a peppy version of the hymn "Down by the Riverside" to follow through on the
spirit of the protest.
"We can't just let this be a blowing-off-steam rally,
as satisfying as that might be," he said. "We're here to win equal
marriage rights right here in Illinois."
Demonstrations
had been organized for Saturday afternoon in the United
States and elsewhere, including Canada, Europe and Australia, coordinated by a
campaign on the Internet.
Los Angeles police estimated 8,000 attended, and thousands filled the
central plaza in San Francisco.
Other cities had crowds estimated in the hundreds or low thousands.
"I
am here to protect my marriage and my family," said 39-year-old Susan
Ferris at Los AngelesCity Hall.
On
November 4, California
voters narrowly approved Proposition 8, which defines marriage as between a man
and a woman. It reversed the right of gays and lesbians to marry that had been
granted by the state's Supreme Court this year and triggered a series of
protests.
"A
turning point has been reached," landscape architect James York, 45, said
at the San Francisco
rally.
$70 MILLION CAMPAIGN
Measures
to ban gay marriage also passed in Florida and
Arizona, while Arkansas barred gay couples from adopting
children.
In
2003, Massachusetts
became the first state to legalize gay marriages. Last month, Connecticut became the second when the
state's top court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage.
The
California
measure passed by 52 percent after one of the most expensive ballot campaigns
in history in which both sides combined raised some $70 million.
Gay
marriage advocates have asked the California Supreme Court to overturn the ban,
arguing that more than a majority vote is needed to make a fundamental change
in the state constitution. In May, the court had declared same-sex marriage a
right, unleashing a flood of weddings.
The
rallies drew a few opponents of gay marriage.
"We're
troubled by the intolerance on their side about what obviously is the will of
the American people," Peter LaBarbera, a board member of Protect Marriage
Illinois, told Reuters. "We think they represent the minority
viewpoint."
Despite
the setback in the country's most populous state, gay marriage advocates said
they were upbeat about their cause in the long run.
"History
is on our side," said Ferris in Los
Angeles.
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