Local News

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / BCN / AP) ― Thousands of angry protestors converged upon San Francisco City Hall Saturday to speak out against California's controversial Proposition 8. SFPD Sgt. Carl Fabbri estimated the crowd at about 7,500.

The protest rally began at 10:30 a.m. on the steps of City Hall and into the Civic Center Plaza as part of a national day of protest against the Nov. 4 voter initiative that overturned a California Supreme Court ruling saying the state Constitution provided a right to same-sex marriage.

Saturday's efforts also called for protests at city halls nationwide. Speakers at the San Francisco rally said at least 80 other cities participated.

The Rev. Penny Nixon, who was among the speakers at the San Francisco rally, said she and her partner raise a daughter, pay taxes and contribute to their community in the same ways as any other couple.

She said those who hoped to see a different outcome on Nov. 4 were hurt by the results.

"The wounds go deep," Nixon said."Sometimes it feels we felt our whole lifetime digging out the lies that other people tell about us, but the truth is this: we are a movement based on law."

The backlash over the passage of Prop. 8—a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and woman in the state of California—has been enormous across the country.

People and businesses that supported Prop. 8 have become targets of blacklists and boycotts. Nickson warned the crowd not to put the blame on certain groups for the proposition's passage, particularly Catholics and Mormons, but added that "it is the misuse and abuse of religion that helped pass Prop. 8."

Many in the crowd were carrying banners protesting involvement by religious groups in the Proposition 8 campaign.

The Mormon church, which sent volunteers to California and encouraged its members to donate money, was a favorite target. "Leave your church out of my state," read one sign. Others were more pointed: "You have three wives; I want one husband," read another.

Also in the crowd were people dressed as devils, chickens and skeletons cloaked in black. They waved signs reading, "When Can I Vote on Your Marriage???" "Stop the H8," "Love Thy Gaybor," "Separate is Not Equal," and "This is not about beliefs or religion. This is about a Civil Right."

Alan Wheeler said he was raised Mormon, married in the church and had six children before he was excommunicated for announcing he was gay. Saturday's rally in San Francisco marked the first time he had participated in a gay and lesbian rally, but Wheeler said he was compelled to turn out in part because of the church's involvement in the campaign.

The 58-year-old Oakland resident held a sign that read, "Brigham Young had 55 wives ... We only want one."

"I had no problem with the church until they started taking rights away," he said.

On Thursday, two Mormon churches in Los Angeles and Utah received hoax mailings containing white powder. Authorities have not officially linked the mailings to the church's support of the measure and a gay rights group in Utah denied that gay protesters were involved. Both temples were sites of recent protests against the church's support for Prop 8.

"I've had it with organized religion in this country. If you want to call them civil marriages versus religious marriages that's fine, just don't tell me who I can love, don't tell me who I can marry," said Jeb Boland, who married his partner Tom at San Francisco City Hall weeks ago while it was still legal.

Chris Norberg, who married his partner in June, said many in the gay and lesbian community were angered by voters' overturning same-sex marriage rights and wanted their voices heard.

"I don't want to cause damage, but sometimes you have to make noise," said the 26-year-old furniture builder from San Francisco.

He also referred to the racial divisions that have arisen since the election. Exit polls found that majorities of blacks and Hispanics supported the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

"A lot of my friends are really pissed off at minority populations in this city right now," Norberg said. "They voted against us."

The Civic Center crowd on Saturday was predominantly white. Among the minorities participating was Jane Francis of San Francisco, who held a sign that read, in part, "Equal parts black and lesbian." The 26-year-old came to the rally with two friends one white, one Hispanic.

"There are those of us who exist in both communities. Both identities are equally important," she said.

Among the speakers at the San Francisco rally was the Rev. Amos Brown, also a national board member of the NAACP. While his church does not perform same-sex weddings, Brown characterized the push for gay marriage as a civil rights struggle.

"Though I'm a Baptist, I refuse to be a bigot," he told the crowd before it left Civic Center plaza around noon for an impromptu march downtown.

The California Highway Patrol said that several protestors were arrested after a large crowd blocked the Octavia Street offramp from U.S. Highway 101.

Emmett Oliver, 54, watched the sea of protesters carrying signs during their procession down Market Street. He voted yes on Proposition 8 and disagreed with the argument that gay marriage was a civil rights issue.

"It doesn't have anything to do with color," said Oliver, who is black and describes himself as a Christian. "Anyone who tries to put it in with that, I find it very offensive."

Representatives of Join the Impact, which organized Saturday's demonstrations nationwide, asked supporters to be respectful and refrain from attacking other groups during the rallies.

Other Bay Area cities that held gay rights protests Saturday included Oakland, San Jose, San Rafael, Walnut Creek, Fairfield and Santa Cruz.

Planning for the nationwide protests was started by a Seattle blogger, Amy Balliett, just days after the California vote, and the idea rapidly spread online. Demonstrators were notified via the Internet and text messages of the various protest locations.

Cat Kim, who helped organize the San Francisco event, said she too felt compelled to organize after Election Day.

"(I am) just an ordinary resident who wanted to become involved," Kim said. "We will not stop until we have equality."

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