Prop. 8 Opponents
Rally at Mormon Temple

At Wednesday night's rally in West Hollywood, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean invited the crowd to join her Thursday at 2 p.m. at Los Angeles's Mormon Temple.

Some 2,000 people lined the sidewalk in front of the temple, located just outside of Century City, waving banners, talking to the press, and screaming "Shame on you" as church members looked on from behind the temple's gates.

Local camera crews surrounded the demonstration. CNN and MSNBC broadcast live coverage online.

The message was simple -- the Mormon Church raised, depending on estimates, anywhere from 48% to 73% of the money behind the effort to pass Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage in the state of California.

According to demonstrators and volunteers from the No on 8 campaign, the Mormon Church violated laws governing the church's tax-exempt status by involving itself financially in a political battle. Protesters stood in front of the temple with signs urging that the denomination be taxed.

Thursday morning, links to a website petition to tax the Mormon Church were circulated via e-mail and social networking sites.

Jean and other No on 8 staffers took advantage of the media attention Thursday to launch a new initiative. InvalidateProp8.org will take donations to overturn the marriage ban, and donations will be made in the name of Mormon church President Thomas Monson.

Following the demonstration several protesters once again took it to the street, this time in the Westwood neighborhood, near the University of California, Los Angeles, campus. At one point some protesters sat down in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard, prompting police to divert traffic.

CNN followed this march, like yesterdays,via a live feed on its Website. The march eventually gained momentum and again headed back for West Hollywood -- a four mile hike, much of it during rush hour.

Talk radio hosts briefly mentioned an altercation between members of the church and protesters during late night programs on Thursday, but these reports are as yet unconfirmed. (Ross von Metzke, The Advocate)