It was definitely fire-and-brimstone time in Los Angeles today as approximately 15,000 “No On 8/Join The Impact” protestors gathered near the steps of LA City Hall. Major fires both north and south of us ringed the city in smoke even as the skies above remained a brilliant blue. But neither the fires nor the freakishly warm temperatures (in the 90’s) did much to affect attendance.

A few observations:

The City establishment was surprisingly well represented considering the fires. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, LA’s first and only openly gay council member, was the first to speak, followed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a number of dignitaries in the Gay and Lesbian community, and City Attorney Rocky Delligadio (who talked about the upcoming legal challenges)

Protesters held all manner of home-made signs (my husband, who worked with me on the general election, remarked how refreshing it was to see so much diversity compared to the graphic uniformity of the Obama campaign).

My favorite, held by a very good looking man in his early twenties, read “Are you sure you want me marrying your daughter?”

In general, I’d say the crowd, though largely young, couldn’t be typified as a West Hollywood protest crowd. We saw a lot of couples and families with young children. We also saw a lot of older couples – men and women in their 50’s, 60’s and even 70’s.

There were quite a few heterosexual couples supporting the protesters. Counter protests were non-existent, except for one lone Jesus freak holding up the obligatory “Repent Or Die” sign.

Whatever heavy lifting absent from the pre-election campaign was in evidence here. I got the clear sense from the crowd and speakers that this was a movement in process – neither beginning nor ending, and everyone was in it for the long haul.