Overland Park ? Nearly 100 Johnson County ministers rallied today in support of an effort to get rid of Kansas lawmakers who voted against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

“I don’t hate gay people,” said the Rev. Jerry Johnston, of the First Family Church in Overland Park. “I love all people. But this issue goes beyond homosexuality.

“This is a symptom of the moral corrosion of this country,” he said. “MTV is getting a gay program. When is this going to stop?”

Johnston said Thursday’s session was just the beginning of a statewide battle. Similar meetings to rally support for the drive have already been held in the Wichita area.

After the Kansas House voted last month against putting the constitional amendment before state voters, a group of prominent Kansas ministers vowed to rally their congregations to defeat those lawmakers who opposed the ban.

The ministers have set a goal of registering 100,000 new Kansas voters before the Aug. 3 primary, and information about how to register members of their congregations was provided at Thursday’s meeting.

The ministers were to have heard from Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, but he was in Oakley on Thursday for the funeral of Sen. Stan Clark. The Republican lawmaker was killed Saturday in a traffic accident on Interstate 70 in western Kansas.