Oh, we got trouble.

Right here in Happy Valley.

A religious coalition is protesting a same-sex commitment ceremony scheduled to be performed at Penn State tomorrow by the mayor of State College.

The ceremony, which has no legal or religious significance, will take about three minutes to perform, but has been generating controversy for more than a month.

The Pennsylvania Family Values Coalition has asked Mayor Bill Welch to cancel the ceremony and Wednesday delivered him a petition signed by nearly 6,000 people. The coalition also plans to hold a two-hour family values rally after the ceremony tomorrow.

The ceremony was planned to kick off Gay Pride Week at Penn State, said Tom Koerber, co-director of the Coalition of LGBTA Graduate Students. Four same-sex couples -- two male and two female -- will participate.

"We discussed having a forum or an educational event about gay marriage, but many people felt that having a forum or a panel didn't get across the whole message or intent that a ceremony would," said Mr. Koerber, a doctoral student in biochemistry and molecular biology.

He expected that the event would draw some controversy, he said, but has been surprised by the size of both the opposition and the media attention.

Leading the opposition is Gary Dull, pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Altoona. Though the ceremony has no legal significance, he sees it as a statement of support for legalized gay marriage.

"Such unions really violate the plan and purpose of God," he said. "They're built upon a sinful basis rather than the purpose of righteousness."

Since he found out about the event in February, he's been collecting petition signatures and spreading the word about the rally through a network of churches and through Christian radio stations.

Still, Dr. Dull emphasized that he is not seeking to be disruptive. He won't be protesting or picketing at the site of the ceremonies at the HUB-Robeson Center, but will be holding the rally an hour later on the steps of the Old Main Hall. The rally will consist of patriotic activities, such as the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, as well as speeches and prayer.

Despite the thousands of signatures on the petition, Mr. Welch said that most of the feedback he's received has been positive. Flipping through the signatures, he didn't see many State College addresses, he said.

"Unless you're a biblical literalist, this doesn't seem to upset many people," he said. "My constituents are very supportive."

Mr. Welch said he was willing to preside over the ceremony in part "because I always try to say yes rather than no if I'm invited to participate in community activities." He also supports gay marriage, and would be happy to preside over legal same-sex ceremonies if the state allowed it, he said.

The four couples participating in the ceremony are doing so primarily as "a public showing of the love they have for their partners," said Mr. Koerber, though some couples have political motivations as well.

Paul Datti and Frank Vasquez are using Saturday's ceremony to mark their 10th anniversary, said Mr. Koerber, while Kat Sinclair and Delia Guzman have been together for six years and are raising a child.

"We decided to participate in this ceremony because our consciences demand that we not remain silent while same-sex couples are denied the basic legal protections afforded to opposite-sex couples," said Ms. Sinclair and Ms. Guzman on a Web site dedicated to the event, www.pridecommitmentceremony.com.

Mr. Koerber has been planning the event since January, when he contacted the mayor. "From there," he said, "it has just blossomed."