At a rally Saturday organized by the
Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA),
opponents of gay marriage called for an “uprising” in Utah.
Richard Mack, a former Provo police
officer and Graham County, Arizona sheriff, told the crowd that it
was up to law enforcement and everyday citizens to restore the
state's gay marriage ban.
“The people of Utah have rights, too,
not just the homosexuals. The homosexuals are shoving their agenda
down our throats,” Mack told Salt
Lake City's Fox 13.
According to Deseret
News, about 200 people attended the meeting, which was held
in the Highland Community Center.
“That's a lie,” Mack said of
federal law trumping state law. “That's an absolute lie. We have
a right to raise our kids without homosexuals being part of the Boy
Scouts, the schools and teachers and doing everything. They can be
all that, but don't shove your agenda down my kid's throat. We have
a right to raise our kids how we want not how you want.”
“The way you take back freedom in
America is one county at a time. The sheriffs need to defend the
county clerks in saying, 'No, we're not going to issue marriage
licenses to homosexuals.”
The meeting comes more than 2 weeks
after a federal judge struck down Utah's gay marriage ban. A request
for a stay in the order is currently before the Supreme Court.
(Related: Utah
gay marriage plaintiffs ask Supreme Court to reject request for
stay.)