A candlelight service to protest the state's recently enacted gay marriage ban turned hostile Friday night when demonstrators ripped a cross from a woman's hands who was there to counter-protest.

The event drew more than 500 protesters at Palm Springs City Hall, the county's largest since 52 percent of voters approved Proposition 8, an amendment that defines marriage as between a man and woman only.

As reported on mydesert.com, organizers had planned a quiet service with speeches from elected officials to rally support after a disappointing loss at the polls. In May, the California Supreme Court ruled the gay marriage ban overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2000 was unconstitutional.

But as Phyllis Burgen, a Palm Springs supporter of the gay marriage ban, walked through the gathering with her cross, the crowd chanted, “Go home!” “Nazi!” and “Shame on you!” as organizers pleaded with the crowd to ignore the woman.

“God has given me a message, a word for all of us and it's fidelity,” said Burgen, a supporter of the gay marriage ban.

“I have a right to be here.”

The crowd saw things differently, pressed in on Burgen, ripped the Styrofoam cross from her hands and stomped on it. In the rush, protesters pushed one another and Burgen, who said she would not press charges although she was bruised in the exchange.

Police made no arrests. Similar protests across the state have erupted in clashes with police and arrests.

Same-sex marriage is an issue that resonates with many, especially in the Palm Springs area, which boasts one of the largest gay populations per capita in the United States.

The amendment's passage has cast a cloud of uncertainty on the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who have tied the knot since June 17, the first day gays and lesbians could legally marry. Of those, about 1,200 couples have married in the Coachella Valley.

“I think most of us would feel differently if we lost this in a fair fight, but we lost this with lies,” Palm Springs Councilwoman Ginny Foat told the crowd, some of them families with young children that held burning candles as the sun slipped behind the mountain.

Gay activists have blamed what they called “deplorable and dirty tactics” from Proposition 8 supporters, who successfully painted the debate as one in which young children would be taught about same-sex marriage and churches would lose their tax-exempt status.

“It's disappointing for our kids,” Vince Keenan said of the ban passing.

Keenan and his partner, Craig Gahnz, held off on getting married, concerned their license would become invalid with a popular vote. The couple brought their two young sons, Spencer and Carter, to the candlelight service.

Protesters trekked a little more than two miles from City Hall to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Palm Springs Ward to show their disapproval of the millions sunk into the same-sex marriage ban.

Proposition 8 was the most costly gay marriage ban in the United States with both sides cumulatively raising about $74 million. Mormons contributed about half of the $40 million the Yes on 8 campaign raised, said Frank Schubert, spokesman for the Yes on 8 campaign.

He called the various protests at Mormon temples across the state outrageous.

“The entire protest and argument that the other side is raising just smacks of religious bigotry,” he said.

Keith Atkinson, a spokesman with the Mormon church in Salt Lake City, declined to comment, but referred to a statement released by the church that reads in part, “It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election.

“While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.”

Proposition 8 opponents also have decried the contributions of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, which gave about $1 million to the Yes on 8 campaign.

At the close of the event, participants snuffed out their candles to symbolize the passage of the same-sex marriage ban extinguishing gay civil rights.