March against Prop. 8 draws hundreds

Opponents of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state, held a protest Saturday evening in downtown Laguna Beach, blocking some streets.

Laguna Beach police said the crowd numbered 1,200. City officials were expecting 300 to 500 people.

Standing in front of City Hall, organizer Audrey Prosser — who married her partner, Debra Quam, in the six-month span during which same sex marriage was legal — praised the city of Laguna Beach for being one of the first in the state to oppose the ballot measure.

“I would like to thank our friends and neighbors in Laguna Beach who were not tricked by $32 million spent on the most shameful ad campaign filled with untruths to defame my family, your family and every innocent child who might just have a gay or lesbian parent,” Prosser said.

“I would like to say to the Mormon church, who forced upon their members the duty to raise $20 million to tell the world that we were immoral: That is not a family value, and there isn’t anything holy about your deceitful tactics. Your efforts to intimidate and defame our allies old and new who stand by us is not what America is about.”

Other speakers included gay activist Dr. Jorge Rodriguez and Laguna Beach Mayor Jane Egly, who drew laughs when she apologized for the fact that no amplification was permitted under city law.

A spirited crowd shouted slogans demanding “equality now” and carried homemade signs in support of same sex marriage and denouncing proponents of the measure.

The marchers walked from City Hall to Main Beach for a candlelight vigil, and eastbound Broadway was closed to accommodate the crowd.

Traffic was jammed in downtown Laguna during the two-hour march and vigil, with many of those in vehicles honking their horns in approval, while others rolled up their windows.

— Cindy Frazier