2 years ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - Hundreds of Prop 8 opponents gathered at the State Capitol and even briefly closed traffic in midtown Sacramento Wednesday evening as a large candlelight vigil over gay marriage sparked huge turnouts. The crowd first massed near the intersection of 20 and L streets in Sacramento just after 6 p.m., then began swelling to the point where traffic couldn't get through. Police quickly arrived and cleared people to the sidewalk, enabling traffic to resume. Later at the state Capitol, hundreds on both sides in the Prop 8 debate stood on opposite sides of the street much of the evening. Staring down Yes on 8 proponents from across the street, gay marriage supporters said they didn't consider the passage of the initiative as a permanent defeat. "It's not going to stop. You can't take rights away from one group and think they're just going to stand back," gay marriage supporter Lori Birdsong-Pierce said. "We know it's not over and they know it's not over. This isn't over. That's why we're here. It's not done," No on 8 proponent Travis Coble said. Meanwhile, many Yes on 8 supporters also believed that even though they won, the battle over gay marriage was far from over. "I strongly believe that we should still stand up for the word of God," gay marriage opponent Arthur Vilkan said. "Just because Yes on 8 passed doesn't mean they're going to stop doing the sinful things they do." The vigil comes a day after the passage of the controversial Proposition 8, the ballot measure that repeals the right of gay couples to marry. While most of the protest was civil, some brief altercations did break out between supporters and opponents of the controversial measure. Police quickly restored order and no arrests were made. The measure's passage represents a crushing political defeat for gay rights activists, who had hoped public opinion on the issue had shifted enough to help them defeat the measure. The mostly very young crowd said plans for the rally and vigil began spontaneously Wednesday morning with friends texting and emailing each other and asking what could be done to show their continued support for gay rights and same-sex marriage. "We were not expecting such a turnout at all. I was scared that we were not going to have that many people. We used every way possible that we could to spread the word in one day," said Suzanne Neill, who was one of the first to suggest the vigil at the Capitol. Also Wednesday night, hundreds of people gathered on the steps of San Francisco's City Hall to protest California voters' approval of a ban on gay marriage. People were holding candles and carrying signs that read "We all Deserve the Freedom to Marry" as part of the event, which was sponsored by groups opposed to Proposition 8.
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