Stonewall 2.0 - 25,000 in San Diego

At the march's start, the Cajun and I figured 2,000 people per block for nine blocks: 18,000. Later, the march grew. The city police said 20,000. The organizers said 25,000. A Harbor Police officer told me 30,000. And I heard one San Diego Police Department supervisor tell a subordinate, "50,000." So...it was big.

All photos are by me except for #7 and #8, which are by Tony Lindsey. To get any photo full size, click inside it.

The march, of course, was against Prop 8. The voters passed it Nov. 4. It amended the California Constitution to stop same-sex marriage, which had become legal on June 16, courtesy of the California Supreme Court.

Marches against Prop 8 took place today in 300 cities in 50 states and 8 countries.

This is one of Tony's zoom pics. But there was really no way to capture the size of the march without being in a helicopter, which at least one local TV station was.

The march went from the northern end of Balboa Park all the way downtown, then curved back around and went up to the County Administration Center.

This one and the one below are downtown on Broadway.

I shot this from the bed of a truck that served as the stage at the County Administration Center as the marchers began to crowd into the march's endpoint.

Using pieces of colored cardboard, the ralliers followed instructions from the stage to repeatedly create a giant "rainbow flag," to the delight of news photographers and cameramen.

UPDATE: San Diego's march was the largest one in the country. The highest estimate for Los Angeles was 12,000. The highest estimate for San Francisco was 10,000 (the San Francisco Chronicle said 7,500). The New York Times and the Chronicle reported 4,000 in New York City (one blogger said 20,000). Boston had 5,000. San Diego is America's 8th-largest city, with a population of 1,266,731, but falls to 17th place when you look at "metropolitan statistical areas."