SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A group of Los Angeles County Republicans is protesting the local party’s decision to host a forum featuring supporters of the same-sex marriage initiative on the November ballot.

Eleven members of the Los Angeles GOP said in a letter to county chairwoman Linda Boyd that they were angered by her refusal to give local Republicans who oppose Proposition 8 equal time to present their side during Thursday night’s meeting.

“How bankrupt must our party be if we believe the only way to grow Republican turnout in Los Angeles is to attack the freedom of our fellow Americans,” wrote the group, which consists of current and former members of the county Republican executive and central committees.

The Republican Party of Los Angeles County is not the first GOP organization in the state to schedule special meetings promoting Proposition 8, which would overturn the state Supreme Court decision earlier this year that legalized same-sex marriage.

Local parties in San Diego, Sonoma and Fresno counties have hosted similar events. The state GOP endorsed the measure in February, months before it qualified for the fall election and the Supreme Court handed down its ruling.

“This event tonight has overwhelming support,” Boyd said. “The county party should not be opposing the California Republican Party.”

The forum is to include speakers from Roman Catholic, Baptist, Mormon and evangelical Christian churches, as well as the founder of the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage, which campaigns for same-sex marriage bans around the country. The organization opened a California office this year and is one of Proposition 8’s biggest financial supporters, having raised more than $2 million.

The California GOP also plans to include support for the same-sex marriage ban among the official party positions listed on mailers and door hangers going out to registered Republicans before Election Day. It also will give Proposition 8 volunteers access to party offices, spokesman Hector Barajas said.

The most recent Field Poll on the initiative found that 68 percent of likely GOP voters were inclined to vote for it. Yet the party’s active support is striking a sour note with a vocal minority who have launched a counter-campaign called Republicans Against 8.

The effort is being backed by the Log Cabin Republicans, a group for gay and lesbian Republicans. It includes a Web site with pictures of prominent Republicans who have come out against the measure, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, comedian Dennis Miller and former University of California Regent Ward Connerly, who sponsored the 1996 ballot initiative that banned affirmative action in the state.

Scott Schmidt, a spokesman for Republicans Against 8, said some of its Los Angeles members asked Boyd for time during today’s 90-minute meeting. They wanted to discuss why banning same-sex marriage would be bad for business and conflict with GOP ideals about privacy and personal responsibility.

“If the party believes it is right on this issue, then it should at the very least be willing to listen to all points of view in an open and fair forum,” Schmidt said.

Boyd said she did not want to turn the forum into a debate. As a compromise, she offered to give Schmidt’s group three minutes of the party’s regularly scheduled meeting to make its case.

“It’s a town hall and for the purpose of presenting information about Proposition 8,” she said. “This is not a time to be arguing over which side stands for Republican values.”