Protest planned outside temple

Gay-rights activists plan to picket the Mormon temple in Newport Beach on Sunday to protest Mormon support for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California. Another protest is planned Saturday at South Coast Plaza.

“I think it is a registering of how upset we are about it,” said Sandra Hartness, a member of the board of directors for the Human Rights Campaign, a national group that lobbies for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. Hartness is one of the organizers of the Sunday protest planned at the Newport temple.

“It reinforces that we are not going to go away, and we’re going to continue to seek equal rights,” she said.

Hartness said she and other opponents of Proposition 8 are angered at claims by the Proposition 8 campaign that homosexuality would be taught in public schools if gay marriage were to remain legal.

“It’s not so much the fact that they donated but the manner that the campaign was conducted and the misinformation that was spread,” Hartness said. “To not expect people to be upset when you take away a right from a group of people is probably naive.”

Protesters have swarmed Mormon churches and temples across the state after the passage of Proposition 8 last week. Opponents of the ballot measure claim members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bankrolled the Proposition 8 campaign. A website created by gay-rights activists tracked campaign finance records during the course of the Proposition 8 campaign and claimed Mormons donated more than $20 million in support of the ballot measure.

Another anti-Proposition 8 protest also is planned for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Bear Street and South Coast Drive near South Coast Plaza as part of a nationwide day of protest against Proposition 8.

Many Mormons feel they are being singled out from the numerous churches in the state that supported Proposition 8, said Joseph Bentley, Orange County director of public affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Church leaders encouraged Mormons in California to donate to the Proposition 8 campaign on a voluntary basis, he said.

“We’re shocked,” Bentley said. “Everyone I know is really quite surprised, and we find it quite deplorable that these are more than peaceful protests.”

Church members across the state have been subjected to vandalism and threats after the passage of Proposition 8, Bentley said.

“We have gay friends we love and care about and support in every way, but we don’t understand why there has been such a horrific backlash,” Bentley said.

The protest is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday, but the Newport Beach temple, 2300 Bonita Canyon Drive, is usually closed on Sundays, Bentley said.

“We usually try to keep the gates open so people can walk peacefully through the grounds,” Bentley said. “We try to keep it beautiful and inviting, but whether they will be able to do that this weekend, I don’t know.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.