---

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association has hired former television star Kirk Cameron to speak at the historic Grand Auditorium tonight — and some in the area are not happy about it.

Cameron is scheduled to appear as part of the program “Love Worth Fighting For,” along with Christian musician Warren Barfield. The program is “dedicated to strengthening marriages and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ,” according to a statement from the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association [CMA].

In March, Cameron received national media attention when he said homosexuality was unnatural and detrimental to the foundations of civilization.

The CMA has released a statement clarifying their stance on Cameron’s remarks. The CMA board had a conversation with Cameron “during which he clarified his public comments,” according to the statement.

“He assured the board that his comments were not intended to be divisive or hateful and he reaffirmed his ministry’s commitment to demonstrate love to all people,” the statement reads. “The OGCMA does not support derogatory remarks about any groups or individuals.”

The civil rights group Ocean Grove United [OGU] plans to hold a silent protest at the Great Auditorium [pictured above] at 6 p.m., said Harriet Bernstein, who co-chairs OGU with her partner Luisa Paster. They will walk from Ocean Grove’s Cookman Avenue to the Auditorium at 5:30 p.m., then hold signs in front of the building until the show begins.

“These are very, very hurtful words,” Bernstein said of Cameron’s remarks.

Prior to the rally, OGU will “go over some dos and don’ts,” including advice for protestors not to answer if they are shouted at, Bernstein said. “We don’t want any confrontation.”

Bernstein and Paster will also host a luncheon meeting in their home with teenagers from the Garden State Equality Youth Caucus, a group for LGBT teens, tomorrow morning.

The caucus members wrote a letter to Cameron, inviting him to meet with them and talk about how they have been bullied and “how hurtful these words are and what it means to them,” Bernstein said.

Cameron will not attend, but some trustees from the Camp Meeting Association plan to come to the luncheon.

“That’s a big plus,” Bernstein said. “This is the first time we’ll have a dialogue going on, so that is the good that’s coming out of this.”

Congressman Frank Pallone also plans to attend the meeting tomorrow morning, and called on Cameron to do the same through a letter.

“No one thinks we can change Mr. Cameron’s views,” Pallone is quoted as saying in a press release from his office. “We are, however, asking him to consider the language he uses when communicating his views.”

---