Hank Donat and Jeff Halperin, who already shared one moment in history, were not going to be denied another Thursday.

As the first gay couple to be married at San Francisco City Hall after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex unions in California last year, they came to see if their marriage would still stand in the eyes of the court — or whether voters have successfully declared it invalid.

“It is in justice’s hands now,â€Â said Donat, moments after California’s highest court began hearing deliberations in legal challenges to Proposition 8, the initiative that amended the state constitution to declare marriage only exists between a man and a woman.

Opposing forces

But while sedate legal arguments unfolded inside the courtroom, another trial took place outside. It consumed hundreds of people who watched the proceedings on a giant television screen in San Francisco̢۪s Civic Center Plaza, or massed in dueling protests on the steps of the Supreme Court.

At times, the hoisted signs and chants from partisans made the affair look like a clash of fans at a college football game. But the topic cut deeply into personal beliefs on loving relationships and cultural mores, on personal liberties and religious creeds.

“This is an outrage that it has even come before the court,â€Â said Christienne, a San Francisco woman in her 60s who said she wouldn’t give her last name because she feared retribution in her workplace for opposing gay marriage.

“The rights of voters should be protected, no matter what. I’m a religious person. This would destroy my religion if they made this legal.â€Â

Blanketed by fellow gays holding blue signs reading, “I DO support the freedom to marry,â€Â Donat, 42, looked sternly at others holding yellow, “Yes on 8â€Â signs and posters saying, “A moral right cannot be a civil right.â€Â

“I’m very emotional,â€Â he said. “When I look at all these faces of hate, I have to see them with my own eyes to be reminded that we are a hated class.â€Â

‘Historically disadvantaged’ versus voting majority

The crowd, dominated by gay rights supporters, erupted in cheers when Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, argued to the court Proposition 8 should be overturned because “a simple majority cannot be permitted to take away the right of an historically disadvantaged minority.â€Â

Most booed when “Yes on 8â€Â lawyer Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton, defended the will of voters by declaring: “The people do have the raw power to define their rights.â€Â

Directly outside the courthouse, protesters stirred up antagonisms having little to do with legal arguments over the California constitution, rights of voters or individual choice.

Henry Hilken, 48, a state environmental officer heading to work, looked on in dismay.

“I don’t want a confrontation. It feeds the hostility on both sides,â€Â he said. “This is about personal lives. It’s not about government, or other people telling us who to fall in love with.â€Â

On one side of the street, two women unfurled a banner paying tribute to a slain gay supervisor: “Harvey Milk — See the Movie.â€Â

On the other side, a man displayed a sign paying tribute to the assassin: “Dan White is a Hero.â€Â

By Peter Hecht / McClatchy Tribune