CHEYENNE - About 300 people marched to the Capitol Building Monday noon in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Equality Day.

They stood in front of the capitol steps on a sunny, windy day, to hear a succession of speakers, including Gov. Dave Freudenthal, speak of the need for continued efforts on civil rights and to combat racial hatred.

Inside the Capitol Building, the Legislature was carrying on business as usual, although House and Senate adjourned early for lunch so lawmakers could attend the rally.

Legislative leaders said later Monday they have never heard any complaints about their tradition of working through the Martin Luther King (MLK) holiday while all other government offices - city, county and federal - were closed.

But two young women in the crowd outside, Gayle Rudolph and Brenda Reynolds, both of Cheyenne, said they do have a problem with the Legislature working on the MLK holiday.

"This day is not just for black Americans," Reynolds said. "It's for all Americans."

Senate Majority Floor Leader Grant Larson, R-Jackson, said the Legislature's schedule is in no way disrespectful of Martin Luther King.

Traditionally, the Legislature takes President's Day off, but not the Monday holiday for Martin Luther King holiday.

"It is the feeling generally of the Legislature that it can extend the session for one more day when most of them want to come down, get the work done and go home," Larson said.

If the Legislature didn't meet on the Monday holiday, most of the lawmakers would go home for the three-day weekend, he said.

"No one I've talked to feels we're doing that out of any disrespect for or about the holiday," Larson said. "It is clearly not any disrespect for Martin Luther King."

Former Senate President Hank Coe, R-Cody, said it would be expensive to keep the lawmakers in Cheyenne for the holiday but not working.

If Washington's birthday were still a separate legal holiday instead of being rolled into President's Day, the Legislature probably would be working on that day, too, Coe said.

House Majority Floor Leader Randall Luthi, R-Freedom, said he has never received a complaint about the Legislature tradition of working on the MLK holiday.

Two years ago for the first time, the Legislature took a three-day weekend for President's Day and may do so again this year if the session workload allows it, Luthi said.

Luthi said the legislators never have been asked to speak at the rally.

"I would be happy to," he said.

During his brief address, Freudenthal said this is the right time for Wyoming to make a statement that hate and intolerance will not be accepted in Cheyenne or anywhere else in the state.

He said two events shaped the national character - the Civil War and the civil rights movement.

The Civil War is over but the civil rights movement continues and needs to be worked on every day, he said.

In the Equality State, the governor said, "We need to learn to practice the principles of equality with each other. "

"We must not lose sight that it is our individual acts that make up the mosaic of Wyoming," he added.

"Never forget and never quit," Freudenthal said after he presented his proclamation of the holiday to mistress-of-ceremonies Rita Watson, representing the Loving Charity Club,

Another speaker, Auditor Max Maxfield, said an incident in Casper where residents found hate pamphlets distributed in their neighborhood at night is a sign that the state has more to do to achieve tolerance and equality.

Another sign is when a hate group comes to Wyoming masking itself as a church, he said, referring to the intention of the leaders of the World Church of the Creator to move its headquarters to Riverton.

"We're not there yet," Maxfield said.

Treasurer Cynthia Lummis said what is needed is both civility and civil rights.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Trent Blankenship said King stirred a nation's conscience.