Bonnie Eastmen said she marched in gay rallies before lesbians actively participated, but Saturday's Pride Weekend march reminded her that now, more gay people are speaking out.

"I've been coming to Pride Weekend for years, and every year it seems to get bigger," Eastmen said.

In an effort to make a personal political statement, thousands of people marched to the Capitol, said Dawn Broderick, co-chairwoman of Michigan Pride Weekend.

Pride Weekend is a three-day annual event held at the Capitol to celebrate the gay community. The weekend included a commitment ceremony, a dance, a rally and a comedy night.

She said people came from all over Michigan, and the turnout was unbelievable and unexpected.

"This has been one of the biggest and most successful pride weekends," she said. "We did not expect it to be this huge."

She also said the turnout seemed to double from last year and that donations also doubled.

"Looking at the receipts, I know that donations this year are much more than what we have had in the past," she said. "People were giving 50s and hundreds, which goes to show you there is a lot of support in this community."

Eastmen said the number of supporters surprised her as well. She said that each year she is reminded of how far pride marches have come and will go.

"I used to live in Big Sur, (Calif.), and I was in marches even before lesbian protesters were starting to actively participate like they do now," she said. "So we have come a long way in that aspect, and this weekend reminded me that this is going to continue to get bigger."

Broderick and Eastmen both agreed that this weekend was successful, but there were still people attending who are not in favor of gay rights.

"There, of course, were protesters. But another reason why I felt it was a successful weekend was because this year we only had a quarter of protesters than last year," Broderick said.

Eastmen said protesters on the 10th floor of an apartment building near the march were playing gospel music loudly out of the windows.

"I've been coming to these marches for about 10 years, and the protesters never get to me," Lansing resident Deborah Bailey said. "They are just ignorant and don't even read those Bibles they were waving around."

The larger commitment ceremonies - or wedding-like services - also seemed to be a surprise this year, Broderick said.

"There were about 250 couples in the commitment ceremony as opposed to what we had planned," she said.

Although Bailey was not apart of the ceremony, she said next year she hopes to participate in them.

"This year I watched the ceremony, but next year I plan to actually be in one," she said. "But hopefully by then same-sex marriage will be legal in Michigan."

Jason Worthy can be reached at worthyj1@msu.edu.