Nov 9, 2008 8:25 pm US/Pacific
Gay Marriage Demonstrators Move To L.A. Churches
LOS ANGELES
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A couple hundred protesters marched from a park to the Cathedral of
Our Lady of the Angels, where they joined other protesters without any incidents, said Officer Julianne Sohn of the Los Angeles Police Department.
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All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA.
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Rev. Pat Langlois leads a rally against the passage of Proposition 8 at the Metropolitan Community Church in L.A.
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Church members gather outside the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena to announce that they will continue to conduct wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.
About 200 gays and lesbians upset over the voter- approved ban on gay marriage marched from East Los Angeles to the downtown Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels today.
Meantime, clergy at All-Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena announced they would continue to conduct wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples, even though county clerks have stopped issuing marriage licenses.
The protests and rallies, which have occurred every day since Tuesday, are in response to voter approval of Proposition 8, which amends the state constitution to restrict marriage to between a man and a woman.
The ballot measure overturns a Supreme Court decision in May that struck down Proposition 22, a 2000 ballot measure, also approved by voters that banned same-sex unions. Over the summer, some 18,000 same-sex couples tied the knot, and the status of those unions is now in question.
Lawsuits have been filed to once again overturn the ban. Many gays are comparing the battle for equal marital rights to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Today's Los Angeles demonstration, organized by a Hispanic group, Latino/a LGBT, began at 1 p.m. in Lincoln Park.
A couple hundred protesters marched from the park to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., where they joined other protesters, without any incidents, said Officer Julianne Sohn of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The day after the election, Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles Archdiocese issued a statement thanking his parishioners for supporting Proposition 8.
"I am grateful to the Catholic Community of Los Angeles for your commitment to the institution of marriage as fashioned by God and to work with such energy to enshrine this divine plan into our state's Constitution," he said.
Mahony said support for Prop. 8 had nothing to do with discrimination against gays.
"Proposition 8 is not against any group in our society," he said. "Its sole focus is on preserving God's plan for people living upon this earth throughout time. The Catholic Church understands that there are people who choose to live together in relationships other than traditional marriage. All of their spiritual, pastoral and civil rights should be respected, together with their membership in the church."
Protesters disagreed.
About 70 percent of blacks and a majority of Hispanics voted for Proposition 8, according to election officials.
Although today's protests were smaller than some last week, activists vowed the rallies would continue.
By 4 p.m., most people were making their way back to the park, Sohn said.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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