If MPs were in any doubt about the message campaigners were hammering home at yesterday's protest, a quick glance at several of the banners floating through the air swiftly removed any uncertainty.

"Shhh. Our MPs are speaking"; "Pay increase to the first MP to successfully define conscience vote"; "Democracy not Theocracy"; "You're talkin' loud and sayin' nothing"; "Keep you Bible out of my bedroom" and "Mandate my ass" were among messages on display as crowds poured up the steps of Parliament.

But where were these hordes of demonstrators seven days earlier, when Rene?e Webb's private members' bill giving gays protection under the Human Rights Act sunk amid a near deafening silence from MPs?

Mark Anderson, also known as female impersonator Sybil Barrington who hit the headlines when Government banned him from last month's Bermuda Day Parade, denied yesterday's action was a case of too little, too late.

"I think this is going to have a great impact. Government did not anticipate the straight community getting involved, but this is more than a gay issue. It's a human rights issue."

He added: "As a teenager I always wondered why can't my country be like the rest of the world? I had to go to the good old US of A to be accepted. I feel like crying.

"I have to fight living in turmoil and deal with walking down the street and have people calling names. In the US, it's a crime to call people a name of a homophobic nature.

"This amendment will not only protect me but also those who are discriminated against."

And he suggested the pro-democracy campaign was only just gaining momentum and was set to snowball. "I'm sure there's going to be more to come," he predicted.

One of the rally organisers, Laurel Monkman, 24, from Rock Island coffee shop, said that the aim was not to create confrontational situations with politicians.

"A few people have been designated question-askers," she said. "We are trying to have a helpful dialogue with the MPs."

She said the most important questions were whether they felt Ms Webb's amendment had been given a fair airing and what their stance was on it. The Bill getting thrown out of Parliament had acted as a "big wake-up call", she stated.

The protest was entirely peaceful but one woman, who refused to give her name, suggested rage was simmering just under the surface. "There's a lot of anger out there about what happened last week," she said.

Another campaigner, Laurie Defontes-Hudson, 42, said: "Had we known what happened last Friday we might have been here then. But we didn't so we are here now.

"Our country's Government did not stand up for our rights as individuals. I voted for one MP who did not speak and I have a problem with that. We should all be protected under the law."

Nikki Bowers, Head of Bermuda Rainbow Alliance told how discrimination on sexual orientation were still rife in the country. "I think it is important that there is a collection of black and white supporters," she added. "This is an issue that affects all of us. I was one of three gays in the house last week. I found it unfortunate that legislation does not exist.

"People are afraid to speak out. I have been discriminated against for being gay."

Masante Maryam, a former PLP Youth Parliament member, said: "It's about equal rights, not just gay right, equal rights for all. We want to be able to go to our jobs without hearing about [being gay it. We should be able to go to the cops without them saying 'if you weren't gay it wouldn't happen'.

"A conscious vote is doing what's right. If I want to love another woman it's my personal right as such".

The mood of the demonstration was neatly encapsulated by Milton Raposo, one of the organisers. "This is not a gay issue, not a straight issue," he maintained. "This is a Bermudian issue".

But can such rallies ever change the minds of politicians?

"Yes, if enough people unite together," a hopeful Robin Dill told as crowds started filing down Parliament's steep steps, back to work.

"We need to keep this going."