HONOLULU (AP) — U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said there is no evidence yet that a fire at a Honolulu church was a hate crime, but he said the investigation is continuing.

Some civil rights groups had speculated that the deliberately set fire at First Christian Church in Makiki, Hawaii, early the morning of Aug. 27, was a hate crime because the pastor, the Rev. Vaughn Beckman, is openly gay.

Honolulu Fire Department investigator Capt. Glenn Solem said flammable liquid was used to start the fire near the rear entrance to the ground-floor social hall of the church at 1516 Makiki Street.

The point of origin was in an area where a church member had stored personal items while waiting to move into an apartment, Solem said.

Police investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the person whose belongings were lost in the fire may have been the target, rather than the pastor.

Beckman said he doesn’t want to think it’s a hate crime.

Fire Department investigators estimated damage at $60,000, but the church’s insurance company put the damage at $150,000, Beckman said.

Services were held last Sunday, Aug. 31, in the second-floor sanctuary despite the smell of smoke lingering from the charred first floor, he said

Beckman said he has received messages of support from Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish and Christian individuals and groups.

“What has been gratifying is that a lot of people support not only the congregation and me, but the message we bring about equality for all people,” he said.

Beckman said he at first could not believe the fire was a hate crime. But he said authorities told him there is strong indication that it was.

Vanessa Chong, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, said the church was described in a recent newspaper article as an “open and affirming” church.

She demanded that the fire be aggressively investigated.

Beckman is a plaintiff in a federal court lawsuit filed after gays and lesbians were excluded from the recent Honolulu Family Day parade sponsored by the Hawaii Christian Coalition.

The plaintiffs were denied a temporary restraining order after the city said the parade was a private event independently organized by the Hawaii Christian Coalition.

But the plaintiffs are pursuing the lawsuit because there is considerable evidence of city involvement in the parade, which, therefore, should have been open to all, said Brent White, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.

Beckman also is a plaintiff in a state Circuit Court lawsuit saying the Family Day festival, which followed the parade at Kapiolani Park, was essentially a Christian service co-sponsored by the city in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

“The main issue in these lawsuits is that the city joined with a group that discriminates against gays,” White said. “The city sent a message that it’s OK to hate gays. The mayor needs to apologize.”

Mayor Jeremy Harris, who rode in an open car in the parade, had no immediate comment.

The Washington-based Human Rights Campaign issued a statement joining the ACLU in calling for a thorough investigation of the fire.

“If officials find that arsonists motivated by anti-gay bias set fire to the First Christian Church, HRC calls upon law enforcement officials to use the full extent of the law to send a clear message that intimidation of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Hawaii — or anywhere — will not be tolerated,” the statement said.