Jim and Terri Hopkins, of Wakefield, who are approaching their 25th wedding anniversary, renew their marriage vows during Rhode Island’s “First Annual Celebrate Marriage and Family Day,” an event sponsored by the local chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage. Their daughter, Elizabeth, 8, also attended the event at the Aldrich Mansion in Warwick.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

WARWICK –– He said he didn’t come to fight.

Paul Thomsen came to the Aldrich Mansion Sunday evening, joining hundreds of like-minded men and women along the western shore of Narragansett Bay, for love.

“I came because I love God. I love my family. And I love my wife,” said Thomsen, a Warren native who now lives in Mansfield, Mass., with his wife of 21 years, Lori.

The Thomsens gathered at the Catholic Diocese property as part of Rhode Island’s “First Annual Celebrate Marriage and Family Day,” an event sponsored by the local chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage. Paul and Lori Thomsen were among more than 100 couples to renew their marriage vows flanked by a large sign that read, “Marriage = 1 man and 1 woman.”

The event was open to the public, even to the 20 or 30 protesters who flashed signs at the front gate as the Thomsens arrived with their four children.

“It’s about being seen,” said Susan Heroux, of Coventry, who stood along the road outside the Aldrich Mansion holding a sign that read, “Love does not know gender.” Heroux’s wife of two years, Stacey, stood nearby. Their 12-year-old daughter did not attend the protest.

The Herouxs married in Massachusetts, as Rhode Island now stands as the only New England state that doesn’t allow same-sex marriage.

“A lot of the people here probably don’t know any gay people. They need to see us as human beings,” said Heroux, an organizer for the newly formed group, Queer Action of Rhode Island. “Religious institutions should be able to do what they want to do. But we believe laws should cover us all equally. We want to protect our families.”

Heroux and a handful of other protesters later passed through the gates, joining the NOM gathering, which also featured pony rides, a Christian rock band, and an appearance by the national organization’s president, Maggie Gallagher.

“There’s something special about the idea of bringing together the two great halves of humanity –– male and female –– in part so that children can know and be known by, and love and be loved by their mother and father,” Gallagher said during brief remarks to the crowd that lounged about the grass in folding lawn chairs.

There was a visible security presence, but no clashes between protesters and those gathered for the vows renewal ceremony. The mood was civil on both sides. The protesters had left their signs behind, in accordance with rules set by the organizer that prohibited posters, handouts, costumes, masks, offensive clothing, and disruptive behavior.

Much of the controversy was saved for the week before the gathering.

The event attracted national media attention after Canadian doughnut mogul, Tim Hortons, walked away from plans to sponsor the ceremony.

Tim Hortons had agreed to donate coffee after local organizers approached a regional Tim Hortons executive. Left-leaning blogs pounced on the sponsorshipand mainstream Canadian news outlets soon covered the controversy involving one of the country’s most popular chains

Tim Hortons pulled its sponsorship last Monday, announcing on its Web site that the company does not sponsor events “representing religious groups, political affiliates or lobby groups.”

Another sponsor, this time a local seafood company, Blount Fine Foods, backed out the next day.

“We have a long track record of donating Blount-brand chowder and other products to all non-profits in our home area that request it for events. These donations of soup are just simple gestures of goodwill and were certainly not intended to be interpreted otherwise,” says a statement issued Tuesday on the company’s Web site. “Blount notified the organizers of the Rhode Island event in question that the company would not be providing a donation, soup or otherwise.”

The Aldrich Mansion is owned by the Diocese of Providence –– a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage –– which is listed as a sponsor and gave organizers an undisclosed discount from the standard $6,500 Sunday rate, according to Rhode Island NOM executive director Christopher Plante.

Overall, the gathering cost between $10,000 and $15,000, he said.

“This is a party,” he said, as the music blasted and people munched hot dogs and hamburgers. “It’s all we are today –– a party.”

But Plante’s group may have an active role as the gay marriage debate plays out in state politics in the coming months and years.

The General Assembly in June failed to approve the only bill to emerge from the gay-marriage debate this year: a bid to give same-sex partners the right to make funeral arrangements for their loved ones. And gay marriage supporters and its critics agree that the Ocean State remains unlikely to approve same-sex unions for some time, a prospect they attribute to resistance from the administration on Smith Hill and the state’s powerful religious influence.

But those political interests were absent from Sunday’s event. Governor Carcieri had been invited, but did not attend. Neither did any officials from the Diocese.

That didn’t discourage Plante. “We’re looking forward to next year already,” he said.

speoples@projo.com