Massive Anti-Gay Rally In San Diego

Yesterday Rex Wockner attended TheCall, a massive pro-Prop 8 rally at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium where Christianists prayed for an end to gay marriage in California. Wockner:

The stage featured James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, ex-homosexuals telling their odd stories, a really good Christian rock band, and a barrage of other opponents of same-sex marriage. The event lasted 12 hours.

The crowd prayed, sang, spoke in tongues, prostrated themselves, sobbed (for California, for marriage, for the homosexuals) and, on numerous occasions, whipped themselves into a true frenzy.

Lots of words came into my head during my hours there: Cultlike. Brainwashing. Frenzied. Frightening. Depressing. But, interestingly, there wasn't really any hate on display. They seemed to just want to "save" marriage. And, as for the homosexuals, they love us, they pray for us, they want us to be set free from sin and demons.

Although organizers had predicted a crowd of 70,000, Wockner estimated the crowd at 15,000. Frightening, whatever the number. Wockner on what was said from the stage:

Instead of explaining what it is that gays are going to do that will harm marriage, they talk about schools indoctrinating children and about churches losing their freedom-of-religion rights. Neither of these fears is reality-based, according to the state superintendent of public instruction, constitutional-law experts, and, well, according to just about everyone except the folks pushing Prop 8, which, if voters pass it Nov. 4, will amend California's constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage, negating the California Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

All photos by Rex Wockner. Visit his blog for more on this story and visit this gallery for additional photos.