Clergy, gay-rights supporters join forces to protest

PHOENIX - Gay-rights supporters joined with liberal clergy Saturday in Phoenix to protest a seminar on the Manhattan Declaration, a multi-denominational statement that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

More than 100 people showed up to protest during a Mass in downtown Phoenix, according to a report by The Arizona Republic. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix had planned to host a seminar on the Manhattan Declaration after the Mass.

The seminar continued as planned despite the protest.

More than a dozen Phoenix police officers were present to keep things civil, The Arizona Republic reports.

Protest organizers said that they considered the Manhattan Declaration to be hateful and discriminatory.

"We believe that the Manhattan Declaration not only will be an extremely divisive document but is a political agenda that will harm more than it helps," said Vernon Meyer, pastor at Sun Lakes United Church of Christ.

One protester preached love for all people.

"They make themselves look like victims. It's their way of propagating hate," said protester Rev. Deacon Andrew Barreras, who held a large woven banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe that read "Where is the love?"

"She is saying, 'Where is the love for all my children?' " Barreras said. "Not just straight, not just Catholic - all my children."

Supporters of the Manhattan Declaration say the document defends traditional marriage and religious freedom.

"We appreciate their right to think differently, but we're not going to back down from our core beliefs, which have stood for 2,000 years," said Rob DeFrancesco, spokesman for the Diocese of Phoenix.