Opponents of gay marriage stay mostly quiet -- for now
Groups opposing same-sex marriage say they will focus on an amendment to the California constitution in November rather than protest today.
Opponents of gay marriage made a pointed effort today to keep a low profile on the first full day of same-sex ceremonies.
Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, wrote in an e-mail to supporters that they will battle in November with a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage.
Prentice had a cautionary message for those protesting Tuesday's ceremonies. Media outlets, he warned, "would love to see us engage in fierce protests and hostile demonstrations of outrage. ... We must not fall into this trap."
There were only a scattering of isolated protests around the state.
A few people carried placards at the county facilities in Norwalk and Santa Ana. In San Diego, a lone protester stood on the sidewalk and cried out a message against same-sex marriage. "It's just not right for a man to marry a man; it's just not normal," said the protester, Dennis Agajanian, a member of Bikers for Christ.
But his protest was largely drowned out by supporters and well-wishers. "Love is in the air today," said Margaux Lanoie, a volunteer with the Equality for All Campaign.
At the Glendale studios of KRLA, conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager fielded questions on same-sex marriage throughout the morning and argued that its legality undermined the will of California voters.
He described marriage as "the central institution of Western civilization" and said he believed "the cavalier treatment of it will come to haunt us."
"If love is your criterion, why do you have the chutzpah to ban polygamy?" he asked a caller.
Randy Thomasson, the founder of the Campaign for Children and Families, said one reason why there was no organized opposition to the marriages Tuesday was that the spectacle of men marrying men and women marrying women needed no elaboration. "If someone is singing a good song, you don't go and try to interrupt it," he said.
Political strategists said the decision not to have organized protests was a good one.
Rob Stutzman, who ran the successful state ballot initiative in 2000 that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, said that the anti-gay marriage side has to be careful not to alienate voters by appearing right-wing. "These campaigns should be seeking to run their messaging as mainstream as possible," he said.
