Protesters Rally for County Seal Cross

More than 700 people packed the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday to chastise lawmakers for voting to erase a small cross from the county’s official seal.

The board’s decision, made last week after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue on the grounds that the seal represents an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity, unleashed a loud backlash as thousands of people called the supervisors or fired off e-mail messages objecting to the cross’ removal.

Despite the protests, however, the board majority refused to budge Tuesday.

“It’s a religious frenzy,” said Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who had voted with Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky to delete the cross from the county insignia. “I’m not going to lower myself to talk to a group of people like this,” she said as the crowd booed. “I don’t have to be harassed.”

Pastors, professors, mayors and homemakers all defended the cross, with many people citing the historical influence of Spanish missionaries, the importance of Christian values, and the money it could cost to replace the seal. They started with a boisterous rally outside the Hall of Administration, attended by more than 1,000 people, before going inside to speak out at the meeting.

“We are a country that celebrates freedom of religion, not freedom from religion,” said Lev Stark, a Jewish man from Hancock Park who wore a yarmulke as he testified. “The cross on the seal of the county of Los Angeles reminds us, even as Jews, that religion is free here.”

The demonstration was led by Dennis Prager, a conservative talk show host on KRLA-AM (870), who has been talking about the supervisors’ decision for days. As he approached the podium to address the supervisors, audience members leapt to their feet and cheered.

“I don’t think you understand the severity of what you’ve done,” Prager told the board, accusing supervisors of obliterating the county’s history. “Totalitarianism is not possible unless you erase the past.”

Over a three-hour period, more than 100 people trooped to the microphone to condemn the board’s decision -- a level of public participation that county hall veterans said is rarely seen. Some speakers offered prayers and even appeals for listeners to seek salvation in Jesus Christ.

The public outcry seemed only to harden lawmakers’ opinions.

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to please this crowd,” Molina said.

Last month, the ACLU told the county to remove the cross from its seal or face a lawsuit. Federal courts have repeatedly found the use of a cross in a government seal unconstitutional.

On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that a 5-foot cross on federal land in the Mojave National Preserve, violated the 1st Amendment.

But some Christian legal advocates encouraged the county to resist the ACLU in court. One group, the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., sued the county in federal court Friday to prevent it from removing the cross from its seal.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich cited the differing legal opinions Tuesday as he questioned county lawyers, who advised the board to remove the cross. He urged his colleagues to reverse their decision to replace the cross with images representing a mission and Native Americans. “If you replace it with a mission without a cross,” Antonovich said, “that’s not a mission.”

But the vote broke along the same lines as last week, with only Antonovich and Supervisor Don Knabe voting to preserve the cross.

“The board has shown leadership in the truest sense,” said Ben Wizner, an ACLU attorney. “The board is not ignoring or erasing the county’s history. It’s honoring that history without making some residents feel unwelcome.”