Boy tries to single-handedly block more than 11,000 anti-gay protesters

All across Mexico this weekend, thousands of people marched to protest same-sex marriage, as the country comes closer to passing marriage equality nationwide.

In Celaya, Guanajuato, however, one 12-year-old boy decided to take a stand ... literally, by standing in the middle of the street in hopes of stopping protesters. A powerful photo, captured by journalist Manuel Rodriguez, features the boy standing bravely before an estimated 11,000 protesters.

Rodriguez told Regeneracíon that he initially thought the boy was just playing, and that the story behind the image was far more innocuous.

But the boy later told the photographer that he was, in fact, trying to stop all "the hatred."

"I have an uncle who is gay and I hate the hatred," he told Regeneracíon.

While activists in favor of same-sex marriage marched on Monday, protests against gay marriage, which included Tijuana’s new Roman Catholic archbishop, drew huge crowds over the weekend.

President Enrique Peña is attempting to pass constitutional reform that would allow marriage equality legislation nationwide. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in nearly a third of Mexico's 31 states, and in the country's capital city.

Rodriguez's photo, which has since gone viral, has been compared to the iconic photo from the Tiananmen Square protests. In June of 1989, an unidentified man, believed to be part of a student movement, stood before powerful Chinese tanks and bravely attempted to block them.

While the student was unable to stop the tanks and the boy couldn't stop the protesters, photos of their resistance sent a powerful message worldwide.