Many of the convention delegates wore the same large blue "Don't Amend" stickers displayed by the protesters. Even state party chairman Donald Dunn sported one of the stickers on his lapel.

However, Dunn urged delegates at the beginning of the day not to "allow this to be become a wedge issue between us" even as he called discrimination written into the Constitution wrong. Later, he told a reporter the protesters represented "a little tiny blip" of the delegates.

Jim Matheson said dissent among Democrats is nothing new. "We have a difference of opinion on the issue," he said. "I represent 750,000 people. Ultimately, they've got to look at the whole basket of issues."

The state's only Democratic member of Congress announced earlier this year that he would back President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Matheson said he has long held that view.

During his speech, he emphasized his opposition to resuming nuclear testing in Nevada. The Matheson brothers' father, former Utah Gov. Scott Matheson, died of cancer that the family believes resulted from living downwind of tests that occurred in the 1950s.

"We all know the government lied," Jim Matheson said. His voice broke with emotion as he said he had been personally touched by the effects of nuclear testing. "This is an issue on which we have to place our utmost effort. We can't go down that path again."

Even those who protested Jim Matheson's position on gay marriage said they still want him to win re-election. "Will it change my vote? No. I'm still going to vote for the guy," said Christy Gleave, a leader of the group that organized the protest, the Stonewall Democrats.

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson said he'll continue to support Matheson, too, even though he disagrees with his position on gay marriage. The mayor was late getting to the convention but said had he been there when Matheson spoke, he would have participated in the protest.

"There are a lot of people who feel (Matheson's) turned his back on them and on some of the most fundamental human rights," Anderson said. "He has to expect they'll show their dissatisfaction."

A couple from Logan, however, were upset over the incident.

"I thought it was really a very offensive thing," Irene Eastmond said. "It's really hard to be a member of the Democratic party and everybody in the state thinks you are aligned with these people wanting gay marriage."

Her husband, Nick, said most Utahns would agree with Matheson's stand. The protest, he said, "can't help the party. . . . When you've got one incumbent and he's the only one with a strong chance of winning, you wonder, what are these people thinking?"

Delegates did agree to add a statement in the party's platform opposing efforts to amend the state or federal constitution "to restrict civil liberties or to limit states' rights," because constitutions are intended to "grant freedoms, preserve liberties and limit government."

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