By Tim Jue / Beat Staff Writer

Even more people were out this weekend as the unbelievably warm temperatures continued in California. Folks headed towards the beaches, sunbathed on lawns and picnicked in parks as some areas reached 90 degrees in mid-November.

Records were shattered everywhere, and the high heat contributed to three devastating wildfires in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Orange Counties where upwards of 1,000 homes have been burned to the ground by the flames.

The warm weather also contributed to the huge turn-out in California Saturday for what is being billed as the largest Gay Rights demonstration since the Stonewall Riots in New York City. Thousands of Proposition 8 opponents – the state measure approved by voters Nov. 4 banning same sex marriage – turned out in force throughout the region.

In Northern California, rallies were held in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and cities in between. The same scene played out in Los Angeles County, under thick black smoke from the wildfires burning just miles away from protest sites.

In San Francisco’s Castro District – the epicenter of the movement – religious pro-Prop. 8 marchers took their message through the neighborhood, causing a profanity laced ruckus that required a police escort. KTVU-TV caught the entire exchange, see the raw, unedited footage here. (WARNING: Graphic language is used.)

Bay Area residents also saw the Zeppelin blimp over the Bay both Saturday and Sunday flying over the city, the Bay and out to the Golden Gate. Certainly, this was the weekend to be enjoying the gorgeous weather despite everything else going on in the state.