Another audience member asked the panel about whether they had gay friends.

“I do,” Perkins said. “I’ve worked with homosexuals.” A chortle went up in the audience.

“I have Thanksgiving dinner with them, I have Christmas dinner with them. I love them,” Perkins continued, unfazed.

“My gay friends are smarter than I am,” Hadley added.

Alex I. Caloza ’04, a supporter of same-sex marriages, said he was finding out more about the opposing viewpoints on the issue.“I think this was helpful to understand where they’re coming from,” Caloza said. He said that while the conservatives’ arguments had “some substance,” he found some of their points offensive.

The event was coordinated by the FRC and co-sponsored by a HLS student organization, the Society for Law, Life & Religion.

The event was originally intended to be held in a debate format. But the participants slated to defend gay marriage in the forum announced on Sunday that they would not attend.

Human Rights Commission President Cheryl Jacques and Mary L. Bonauto, the attorney for the same-sex couple who filed the suit heard by the SJC, pulled out after expected media interest in the event didn’t materialize, according to HRC Deputy Director of Media Relations Mark Shields.

“Basically it was better for us to go and talk directly to voters than take time and resources debating the FRC,” Shields said.

“We did everything we could to make it a fair and balanced campaign,” FRC spokesperson Genevieve Wood said. “All they had to do was show up. They didn’t.”

—Staff writer Michael M. Grynbaum can be reached at grynbaum@fas.harvard.edu.