Three traveling preachers wearing T-shirts proclaiming "All homos go to hell" attracted hundreds of students as they spoke yesterday in front of the Willard building against homosexuality, masturbation and other "sins."

Hailing from Michigan, the group calls itself "Soulwinners Ministries International" and was created by married couple Michael and Tamika Venyah.

Michael Venyah said the group has been on a 64-campus, cross-country tour since September 2004, and will be on campus today and possibly tomorrow.

They were joined by Chris Lemieux, who held a sign listing the group's beliefs.

Some onlookers voiced disagreement throughout the demonstration, shouting rebuttals such as "Stop preaching hate!" and "What the fuck is wrong with you?" prompting the crowd to erupt into cheers.

"It's awesome; people actually feel something," Brittany Berman (senior-sociology and public relations) said. "In a way, it's kind of good."

Uzair Qadeer (senior-religious studies and industrial engineering) went up to Lemieux's sign and began exclaiming his disagreement with the message.

"Good people don't hate others!" he yelled, pointing at the sign.

Another student, Jonathan Walker (junior-architectural engineering), responded to Qadeer in a calm voice.

"This isn't a message of hate; God is just," he said.

Michael Venyah said he justified the message in terms of God's will.

"Love is telling the homo he's going to hell," he said.

Shortly after 3 p.m., about six students representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies (LGBTA) arrived at the front of the Willard Building to voice their opposition to the travelling preachers.

They stood in a row, with a rainbow-colored cloth draped over their shoulders, while Lemieux continued to shout.

"You guys major in business but you minor in masturbation," Lemieux said. "Muslims will go to hell because they've sinned, so will Buddhists, so will atheists."

As the crowd of onlookers swelled to more than 200 people, Penn State University Police officers confronted Lemieux and asked him to move to the grassy area between Willard Building and Sackett Building.

"The police were there basically to make sure that everything remained peaceful," said Mark Allen, an assistant supervisor for university police. "The group was asked to move off the sidewalk and off the Willard steps. They were blocking the sidewalk for people who passed through."

The LGBTA students followed Lemieux to his new location, where he continued speaking.

"He's promoting hate by wearing that shirt," said Christina Swomley, president of SpeakOut, an LGBTA organization.

Tamika Venyah said the group's goal was to get students to repent from their sins and accept Christianity, and that the shirts were meant as a wake-up call.

"I guess it's not strong in terms of people going to hell -- that's much stronger," she said as she held her six-month-old son on her lap.

The crowd reacted sharply against Lemieux, angrily shouting questions at him as he tried to continue his speech.

"Would Jesus be doing what you're doing right now?" shouted Ahmed Abd El Aziz (junior-chemistry).

Lemieux responded in a sarcastic voice: "Yes, he'd be doing what I'm doing."

The crowd shouted "No!" in response.

Lemieux said because they chose to be gay and lesbian the LGBTA students were committing a sin.

Swomley shouted back: "What day did you sign up to be a heterosexual?"

The group of LGBTA students began to chant in unison: "All the brothers and sisters...must come together." As they chanted, Lemieux attempted to continue speaking, but they formed a tight circle around him and drowned him out.

Benito Stallings (junior-meteorology) said, "I'm a Christian and this is not what true Christianity is about."

Stallings said while he didn't approve of Gary Cattell, "The Willard Preacher," he looked good compared to the Soulwinners.

"This makes him look like Santa Claus," he said.

Cattell said he met the Soulwinners for the first time the night before through a mutual friend.

He said their style of preaching was unique. "It's different than the way I do it, but I'm not going to judge them," he said.

Jordan Lane (senior-secondary education), who is Muslim, said she disagreed with the way the group went about preaching.

"My religion teaches me 'to you be your way and to me be mine,' " she said. "This kind of approach is against everything that I stand for."

Lane said she also found some of the crowds' conduct to be in poor taste.

"I think it would have been more effective for both sides if they hadn't resorted to name calling, cursing and yelling," she said.

Caitlyn Harling (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) added that the group had the right to give its message.

"I respect what they're doing because it's free speech," she said.

Ryan Pfister contributed to this article.