Gay marriage supporters at a rally in front of City Hall Saturday said their efforts are about securing equality and legal protection, not altering church sacraments.

“I’m a supporter of the separation of church and state,” said Sherry Hill of Fidalgo Island, who organized the Anacortes event.

“The government should say civil marriage is open to all,” she said.

Twenty-five Anacortes demonstrators were among an estimated 120,000 people who took part in simultaneous gatherings nationwide to express their frustration at the passage of Proposition 8 in California and to raise awareness of civil rights.

The Anacortes rally drew many smiles and waves from passing cars, as well as some averted eyes. One pair of young men drove by three times before stopping to ask what was meant by a sign reading “Is gay the new black?” A demonstrator replied it means it is their turn for equal rights.

A few minutes later a driver signaled disapproval, and the demonstrators looked abashed.

“Toughen up. It’s our first thumbs down,” Chris Hurley of Langley told them.

The word “marriage” may be what upset some voters in California, but Anacortes demonstrators said they only use that word because it conveys such a wide range of legal rights and responsibilities. While “domestic partnership” is cited a few times in state law, the word “marriage” is used more than 400 times, Hurley said.

“It can be small as a geoduck license. A married couple only needs one,” Hurley said. “That sums it up. That’s what we’re out for.”

In addition, there are more than 1,400 references to marriage in federal law.

“They don’t say ‘If you have a civil union.’ They say ‘marriage,’” said Marsha Morgan of Whidbey Island.

“Until it gets to national level, many benefits don’t apply,” Hurley said.

The demonstrators said it would be simpler to redefine civil marriage once than to amend thousands of laws across the country. They said they are not trying to tell religious groups who should be allowed to marry within a church — the Catholic church should continue to determine whether a couple is eligible to marry in its church, for example. They said gay marriage would be implemented much like Proposition 1000.

“It’s like the death with dignity measure. Providence or St. Joseph’s can choose not to do it,” Hurley said.

Marsha Morgan of Whidbey Island said she had a marriage ceremony in Canada and filed domestic partnership documents in two states — all with the same partner. Even now, her partner of 20 years still can’t legally inherit Morgan’s share of their estate without paying federal gift taxes.

“I have to keep thousands and thousands of dollars of life insurance for her,” Morgan said.

Families can’t always be counted on to respect a person’s wishes after a death, and surviving partners sometimes bear the brunt of the anger of the deceased partners’ families. Morgan knew a physician and a teacher who were together 20 years. When the physician died unexpectedly, without a will or other paperwork, her partner got nothing.

“The family took everything, including the pets,” she said. “Literally, the woman was stripped of everything. It’s not uncommon. When there’s no approval from the family, you can really get screwed.”

“It’s taken 30 years to get basic civil rights protection,” Hurley said. “We have a couple of pieces of civil rights. We have domestic partnership, with some partner protections and privileges.”

The group’s other concerns include discrimination in housing and employment, and bullying in schools. Hill said it is time to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, adding sexual orientation to the prohibition of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

Some protesters said they were disheartened at the passage of Prop. 8 when they should have been celebrating the election of Barack Obama. Morgan said her Californian friends are still reeling from a vicious campaign.

“The ads were so awful, so horrific,” Morgan said. “They’d have us all pedophiles.”

“It was heartbreaking for friends who’d worked so hard. They felt like they had just been torn apart,” she said.

Hurley said Prop. 8 is not expected to survive legal challenges.

“Voting on the rights of a minority is flawed. That’s why we have a legal system and a judicial system,” she said.

Others are still hopeful about the election of Obama, who openly supports gay marriage.

“He’s not afraid to say it. He doesn’t shy away from it,” Hill said.

Hill urged the group to continue writing to elected representatives and talking to people about the issues faced by the gay community and the need for civil rights reform.

“It’s going to take the whole nation to get this done,” Hill said.

They said change has come incrementally, and now it is only a matter of time.

“I’m confident that people’s opinion will change,” Hurley said. “It will come. People will understand eventually.”