Crowd Protests Same-Sex Marriage

Thousands of people protested gay marriage at a rally Saturday at the city’s baseball stadium, facing hundreds of chanting, shouting counter-protesters.

About 20,000 people attended the “Mayday for Marriage” worship service and rally, organized by conservative Christian churches around the state in support of heterosexual marriage, according to the event’s marketing director, John Kelly. Police offered no crowd estimate.

“This is a place where we’re taking a stand,” James Dobson, founder of the evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family, told the crowd. “If this happens, the culture war is over and everything associated with it is lost.”

“We think the biblical concept of marriage is important and people should take a stand on that side of the argument as well as the one that’s in the media right now,” said Bill Hanford, 46, of Redmond.

Between 2,500 and 3,000 gay-rights protesters waved signs and chanted, “Bigots go home!” and tried to shout down the anti-gay-marriage protesters. Arrivals had to walk between the counter-protesters to enter the stadium. One man was arrested, police said.

Jeffrey Steinberg, 52, carried a sign that said, “Religious bigots love lies, not God! Bear your false witness elsewhere.” “Unfortunately, religion has often been a tool for hatred,” he said.

Organizers spent $120,000 to rent the stadium, said the Rev. Joseph Fuiten, pastor of Cedar Park Assembly of God church in Bothell.

The Seattle Mariners, who operate the ballpark, and Safeco Insurance, whose name is on it, received phone calls from people criticizing the use of the stadium for the rally, the Seattle Times reported Saturday. Some threatened to cancel insurance policies, while others said they would give up their Mariner tickets, the newspaper said.