by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
As many as 20,000 LGBT people and others protested Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to Britain on Sept. 18 in London.
"We got 10 times more people than we expected at the protest," said British gay leader Peter Tatchell, who organized the demonstration. "This is awesome for a small campaign with no office, paid staff or proper funding."
Tatchell called the "Nope Pope" march and rally "the world's biggest protest against any pope for many, many years."
It filled an area stretching from Hyde Park Corner to Piccadilly Circus.
Tatchell said the goal was to "expose the pope's sexist, homophobic and reactionary dogmas."