Marriage at center of 3 rallies today

Washington Square will be the place to be today for Utahns with strong opinions on gay marriage.

Three afternoon rallies — two showing support for marriage between one man and one woman, the other seeking marriage rights for the gay community — are planned outside the Salt Lake City-County Building, 451 S. State.

Between the three rallies, Salt Lake police are preparing for roughly the same size crowd that protested last week at City Creek Park and marched around the two blocks surrounding Temple Square and the Church Office Building. That rally drew an estimated 3,500 people.

Free-expression activity permits issued by Salt Lake City require that the opposing groups stay 150 feet away from one another.

City permitting officials anticipate the "March for Equality," organized by Join the Impact Salt Lake, to be the biggest draw, attracting between 300 and 3,000 people.

The group plans to show its opposition to California's new ban on gay marriage with a rally at 11:30 a.m. on the east steps of the City-County Building, followed by a march around Washington Square. The event is expected to run until about 2:30 p.m. A candlelight vigil is planned for 6 p.m. on the south lawn of the state Capitol.

A counterdemonstration being called "Honor Democracy" also is planned for 11:30 a.m. at Washington Square to support the action taken by California voters in passing Proposition 8.

A third event, the "Sanctity of Marriage March," is planned for 11 a.m. at City Creek Park on the northeast corner of State Street and North Temple. Organizers say they plan to march to the Salt Lake City-County Building in support of traditional marriage.

The march is being organized by Lonnie Pursiful, who has led demonstrations against the LDS Church himself. He is a regular fixture outside LDS General Conference and gay pride events waving large banners condemning both.

"It's not a Mormon-non-Mormon thing," he said Friday. "They stood up for something I agree with. I'll stand up against sin no matter where it's at, no matter who's involved in it."

A constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman was supported by 52 percent of California voters on Nov. 4, overriding the California Supreme Court ruling last May that briefly allowed gay marriage in the state.

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