NEW ROCHELLE - A planned protest rally became a lunch of thanksgiving yesterday at a local Cosi sandwich shop, where advocates of same-sex marriage were allowed to keep their photos on display after all.

The fashionable chain restaurant had welcomed an exhibit of family snapshots collected by the Empire State Pride Agenda in lobbying for same-sex marriage rights. A day later, the group was asked to take the photos down. The local manager cited complaints from the public, and the corporate office blamed a glitch in company procedures.

That discrepancy didn't seem to matter yesterday as the photos - a collection of smiling portraits matted on 35 rainbow-colored pages - were being arranged on the walls again. Activists, clergy members and local residents held a news conference outside to explain their argument for giving gays and lesbians the right to legally marry in New York. When everyone had spoken, they went inside and had lunch.

"Marriage, to my family, means everything," said Carolina Cordero Dyer of White Plains, whose twin 2-year-old children were at her side in a stroller. "Just like everyone else, I worry about paying the bills, I worry about my kids' education, I worry about health care. Without marriage, all of those things that we all worry about are harder."

Dyer said she married Claudia Glaser in Canada and completed a second-parent adoption of their children, whom Glaser gave birth to. An entry in the photo display had pictures of the four of them with the words, "Marriage, Love, Commitment, Family."

"We really chose Westchester because we wanted our kids to grow up in a community that valued and respected them. And we believe that Westchester is that community, and we love living here," she said. "We're your neighbors. We're your friends. We're your family."

The photos will be on display for a month, then compiled into a statewide "family photo album" intended to show the human faces behind a divisive political issue. New York does not offer same-sex couples the legal right to get married. Neighboring New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont offer civil unions. Only Massachusetts allows same-sex marriage.

Mary Jane Karger of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network said gays and lesbians still faced "invisibility" in the schools, "just like Cosi had considered making it an invisibility here."

She said the family photos could give hope to students who feel alienated because of their sexual orientation.

For the most part, speakers did not dwell on the controversy but thanked Cosi instead.

Diana Wilkins of the Empire State Pride Agenda signed a liability and insurance agreement with Cosi to display the artwork from Feb. 24 to March 26. But Regional Vice President Robert Speirs said the approval did not go through the right channels, and that triggered the removal request. He said the company's aim is not to judge the artwork but to present it appropriately - in frames, for example. The photos were professionally matted but not framed.

He was in the restaurant discussing the design of the display, recommending that the pages be hung in clusters rather than the original straight line.

"We are a company that does the right thing. If you've been a fan of Cosi, you've always known that we're very cutting edge," he said. "We're very hip, and that's our success."

At least one local customer said she'll be giving up Cosi's salads and other offerings until the exhibit comes down.

"What offends me is that they're fighting for normalcy, they're fighting for approval, they're fighting for acceptance, and those of us who disagree with this issue of homosexuality - that's never going to happen," Jeanne Sparks said.

"It's a political agenda. It may be legal, but I think it's not appropriate," she said. "It could be offensive and disrespectful to the people who are raising their children to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman."

Jeff Weinstein said his hometown of New Rochelle always celebrated its diversity, "but I didn't always feel that as a gay person in this city, that my community recognized or acknowledged me as being part of that diversity.

"I hope that more people from our community will come and really understand just what this is about. That it's not about all the rhetoric. That it's about regular people."

As for the food, Weinstein said he was enjoying it a little more now.

"It tastes better today than it did last night," he said.

Reach Leah Rae at lrae@lohud.com or 914-694-3526.