Report On Prop 8 Rally In Laguna Beach

Here's a recap of the rally in Laguna Beach, CA. Read the full article at the Orange County Register. Of course, leave it to my best bud Jeff to score a quote!:

The statewide protest against a freshly approved ban on same-sex marriage spread south on Saturday, as hundreds opposed to Proposition 8 walked streets in two coastal Orange County cities.

In Laguna Beach, more than 1,100 people met in front of City Hall and then marched to the beach, where they crowded along Coast Highway. The demonstrators waved signs and chanted slogans from the shoulder of the highway, and police briefly blocked the southbound lane closest to them.

The demonstrators in Laguna Beach were met with thumbs-up signs, cheers and honking horns. The city voted more than two to one against Proposition 8, and its mayor, Jane Egly, helped kick off Saturday's march by telling the crowd, “We must continue the long struggle.”

“We're outraged that in America you can have a majority vote away the rights of a minority,” said Jeff LeTourneau, 52, a resident of Brea and the political director for the Elections Committee of the County of Orange, a gay and lesbian organization. He helped organize the Laguna Beach demonstration.

The crowd chanted, “Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right” as it marched to the beach. Many waved “No on Prop. 8” yard signs; others held up handmade signs: “Hate is not the change we need,” or “I didn't vote on your marriage.” At one point, a car stopped next to the demonstrators and the driver pushed a trumpet out the window and played, “Charge!”

We'll see where all this goes. At least it is getting lots of coverage on television newscasts and in print so the Yes on 8 folks can see we aren't happy. We aren't happy at all.

Update: Jeff reports that attendance was more like 2,500!