Protests As Same-Sex Unions See Defeat In California

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Campaigners against Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California, conceded defeat of their cause on Thursday while gays protested outside a Mormon Church temple in Westwood.

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, announced in a telephone news conference that the No on 8 campaign will not close the gap or surpass the 500,000-vote lead of Proposition 8 supporters with the remaining uncounted three million votes across California.

On Tuesday, 52.5 percent of California voters rejected the measure to amend the state constitution to legalize gay marriage while 47.5 percent voted against it. Similar measures in Arizona and Florida were defeated during the elections.

Meanwhile, from 500 to 1,000 gays expressed their disgust over the outcome on Proposition 8 by demonstrating outside the Mormon Church temple on Santa Monica Boulevard at 2 p.m. under the watchful eyes of LAPD officers.

The protesters vented their ire on suited men from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by shouting "Shame on you!" One protester waved a placard that reads: "Chickens - 1, Gays - 0," to stress the point that gays should get more humane treatment than chickens. A proposition giving humane treatment to chickens won the majority of votes in California.