Dueling Marriage Rallies Held In Utah

Last night hate group leader Brian Brown spoke before about 700 anti-gay protesters in Utah's statehouse a couple of hours after an estimated 300 pro-gay counter-protesters rallied outside.

Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said Utah has become the epicenter of the fight over marriage and how it's decided. "Activist judges now feel no qualms in simply putting forward their opinion as the law," Brown said. "The people of Utah voted on this." Brown's Washington, D.C.-based group, which opposes same-sex marriage, held a rally inside the Capitol building with a local group called Celebration of Marriage. About 700 people attended, with many holding pink and blue signs handed out by organizers with messages such as "Biology is not bigotry." Several supporters of gay marriage were escorted out by security officers after they interrupted the event by yelling, "Equality now." Several protesters sat on the floor in the middle of the event and threw glitter. Rod Arquette, a local radio host serving as host of the event, addressed the gay marriage supporters interrupting the event. "We do not hate you. We do not despise you," he said. "But we want to stand up for what we believe in."

Among the anti-gay speakers was homocon Doug Mainwaring, who last year joined fellow homocon Robert Oscar Lopez in filing a SCOTUS brief in support of DOMA. Recently appointed Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes told the crowd that he expects Utah to win its case before the Tenth Circuit Court.