DAYTON, Tenn. (AP) – Nearly 80 years after the Scopes “monkey trial” turned the courthouse here into the crucible for evolution debate, a recent vote to ban gays and lesbians has made this town a focal point in the fight over same-sex unions.

Competing gatherings are planned – one a courthouse march against same-sex marriage and civil unions, and the other a “Gay Day” that is expected to draw 3,000 people to a park for a picnic, games and entertainment.

The Rev. Franklin Raddish, an organizer of the protest march, said he believes planners of the “Gay Day” are trying to “force their lifestyle and their agenda on the people of Dayton and Rhea County.”

“God condemns homosexuality very, very strongly,” Raddish said, adding that his march isn’t about confrontation but to “show strong opposition to same-sex marriage, civil unions and the practice of sodomy.”

“Gay Day” organizer Kristie Bacon said she is “not trying to make heterosexuals accept us. I am just trying to help them understand more. They don’t have to accept us if they don’t want to.”

Rhea County commissioners ignited the debate March 16 when they passed a resolution calling for a ban on gays and lesbians, and an amendment to state law that would allow the county to charge them with crimes against nature.

That resolution was rescinded just two days later after some commissioners said they misunderstood what they were doing.

Commission Chairman Terry Broyles said the commissioners intended to vote only for a resolution supporting the state ban on same-sex marriages and he hopes to move past this “unfortunate situation.”

But if history is any indicator, that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. This town 35 miles north of Chattanooga so embraced its last brush with notoriety that it holds a Scopes Trial Festival that draws hundreds of re-enactors, crafters and vendors every summer.

It was in this county that high school teacher John Scopes was convicted of teaching evolution in the famous 1925 trial that attracted protesters and reporters from all over the country.

The verdict was reversed on a technicality, and the Dayton trial, which pitted creationism against Darwin’s theory of evolution, became the subject of the play and movie Inherit the Wind.

Diana Cunningham, 48, of nearby Spring City, said the commission’s recent gay and lesbian ban vote prompted her to tell her relatives she is a lesbian. She said the commission vote “meant they were going to ban me.”

“I thought, OK, I’ve got to stand up for this now. This can’t just blow over. I am those people, and I don’t hurt anyone,” she said.

The Rev. Mike Justice, pastor of the Dayton Church of God, said he and some other ministers have held meetings in recent weeks with leaders of several groups that work with gays and lesbians, including “people who have come out of the gay lifestyle because of coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Justice said he has asked members of his congregation to do “prayer walks” through the city park prior to the “Gay Day” event, “just simply walking the area and quietly praying.”

Chip Pendergrass, president of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, said he could not predict if the opposing events would help or harm the town’s image.

“Honestly I don’t know,” Pendergrass said. “Hopefully they will come and enjoy themselves and enjoy Dayton. The chamber has no association with the events.”

Pendergrass said he has been busy planning the annual strawberry festival, which has a parade set May 15. He said tolerance for gays and lesbians in Dayton is “no different than any other community.”

“The majority of the people of Dayton are friendly and welcome anybody,” he said. “I guess you have a few who aren’t tolerant.”