SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A crowd of protesters marched around the headquarters of the Mormon church Friday night, criticizing the faith’s support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in California.

“Separate church and state,” the crowd chanted as it marched, some waving rainbow flags or sporting signs with messages like “Mormons: Once persecuted, now persecutors.”

An unofficial estimate from Salt Lake City police, who blocked downtown city streets for the march put the number of participants at more than 2,000.

Preceded by an hour-long rally in a city park, the march comes three days after California voters approved Proposition 8. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encouraged its members to work to pass the amendment by volunteering their time and money for the campaign.

Church officials offered no statement on the rally and march Friday night, but have called for civility and respect in the same-sex marriage debate before and after the vote on Nov. 4.

Rally speakers made a similar call Friday.

“I do not hate the LDS church, nor any of its members and neither should you,” said Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Utah, one of three openly gay Utah legislators. “The way to deal with this problem is to love more, not hate.”

McCoy’s district includes the LDS church headquarters. He called on the crowd to work with him to channel frustration and anger into activism and conversation that fosters understanding.

“I will help them understand that civil rights for our community does not come into conflict with the religious rights to worship as your conscience dictates,” McCoy said.

Several speakers also used the church’s own history to criticize its activism – in the 19th century, Mormons practiced polygamy in defiance of federal marriage laws and denied blacks the full privileges of church membership until 1978.

“With the LDS church’s vast involvement in the passage of Proposition 8, we are seeing a repeat of a tragic and deplorable history,” former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said.

Mormons hold traditional marriage as a sacred institution and a critical part of God’s plan for humanity. Gay sex is considered a sin, but gays are welcome in church and can maintain church callings if they remain celibate.

The Mormon church does not endorse political candidates or political parties, but speaks out on issues its leaders consider morally important. The faith has been active in fighting marriage equality legislation across the U.S. since the 1990s and, in 2006, joined other faiths in asking Congress for a marriage amendment to the Constitution.

But a statement on a church Web site says that church leaders don’t oppose rights for same-sex couples related to hospitalization, medical care, housing or probate as long as these “do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.”

Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, the first out lesbian elected to the Utah Legislature, hinted at pushing for equality legislation when Utah lawmakers convene in January. She said it’s time to stand up against injustice.

“We are going to work our tails off from this day forward to effect change and achieve that equality,” she said.

Rally organizer Jacob Whipple spread his idea for a protest last week by text message and on social networking Internet sites after seeing television coverage of a demonstration outside a Mormon temple in Los Angeles. About 1,000 same-sex-marriage supporters waived signs and brought afternoon traffic to a halt there.

Whipple told the crowd he has been directly affected by the California vote. He had planned to marry his partner, 23-year-old Drew Cloud, on April 11, 2009.

“We’re still going to hold it,” Whipple told The Associated Press. “But with just friends and family, not friends, family and God and country.”