Prop. 8 protest draws thousands in Salt Lake City

Thousands of people packed a Salt Lake City park and then paraded through downtown streets Friday night for a vocal but peaceful protest of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' participation in California's new ban on gay marriage.

An estimated 3,500 members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gathered at City Creek Park to speak out against the LDS Church for encouraging its members to support Proposition 8.

"We're here because we've been hurt, some of us very personally," said Jacob Whipple, who organized the protest as a show of solidarity with Californians who have been staging such events since Election Day.

"I would like to thank the (LDS Church) for what they've done," Whipple said. "They have helped awaken this spirit in the gay community. For way too long, we've been complacent in our own rights. ... Now we have this momentum."

A constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman was supported by 52 percent of California voters Tuesday, overriding the California Supreme Court ruling last May that briefly allowed gay marriage.

For Whipple, a gay man, that means he likely won't be able to wed his fiance in April as planned.

"We need to make it known that we are hurt," he said. "We need to make it known that we will stand up for our rights."

Like most who spoke at the hourlong rally, Whipple encouraged those upset with the church's actions to set aside their anger and seek equality for all Utahns by educating LDS leaders about the LGBT community.

"Let's do this the right way," he said. "Let's do this with respect."

Whipple shared the makeshift stage on the northeast corner of the park with the three openly gay members of the Utah Legislature — Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake; Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake; and Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake.

"To be surrounded by this amount of courage and this amount of determination, there is no way we will see these laws stay in place for very long," Biskupski said.

Former Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, a longtime human-rights activist, also took the stage, welcomed by a chants of "Rocky! Rocky!"

"Let us all call for greater love, better understanding, dignity and respect toward all — regardless of race, regardless of faith or lack of faith, and regardless of sexual orientation," Anderson said.

Some Proposition 8 opponents are blaming its passage on the LDS Church for its strong support of the gay-marriage ban. Though the church did not contribute directly to the campaign, its members were encouraged to support the amendment through fundraising and grass-roots organizing.